AGWC.  DEPT, 


/Cui 

PROCEEDINGS 

Conference  on  Milk  Problems 

Under  the  Auspices  of 

NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE 

at 

NEW    YORK    CITY 
December  2nd  and  3rd,    1910 


PRICE,  ONE  DOLLAR 


PROCEEDINGS 
CONFERENCE  ON  MILK 


UNDER    THE    AUSPICES    OF    THE 

NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE 

December  2nd  and  3rd,  1910. 

AT 

ASSEMBLY     HALL 

United    Charities  Building 
105  East  22nd  St.,  New  York 


ARTICLE  II.     OBJECT:     The  object  of  this  organization  shall  be 
(a>  the  improvement  of  the  milk  supply  of  New  York  City, 
(b)  the  education  of  the  public  to  a  proper  use  of  milk  for 
infant  feeding  and  for  other  purposes. 

— Constitution  of  the  New  York  Milk  Committee^ 

STEPHEN  G.  WILLIAMS,  Chairman. 
MARSHALL  L.  WARRIN,  Treasurer. 


Published  by  the 
NEW   YORK    MILK  COMMITTEE 

105  East  22nd  St.,  New  York 


CONTENTS 

PAGE 

PROGRAM 5 

FIRST  SESSION 9 

SECOND  SESSION 45 

THIRD  SESSION 95 

FOURTH  SESSION  155 


PROGRAM 

FIRST  SESSION. — Friday  Afternoon,  December  2nd,  2  O'clock. 

MILK    ECONOMICS, 

Stephen  Francisco,  Ex-President  of  the  National  Association 
Certified  Milk  Producers,  Presiding. 

INTRODUCTION  OF  HON.  JOHN  PURROY  MITCHEL. 

Mr.  Stephen  G.  Williams,  Chairman  N.  Y.  Milk  Committee. 

ADDRESS  OF  WELCOME. 

Hon.  John  Purroy  Mitchel,  President  of  the  Board  of 
Aldermen,  New  York  City. 

ADDRESS  OF  CHAIRMAN — THE  FUTURE  OF  THE  MILK  SUPPLY  FROM 

THE  PRODUCERS'  STANDPOINT. 

Stephen  Francisco,  Ex-President  of  the  National  Association 
of  Certified   Milk  Producers. 

THE  TRANSPORTATION  AND  CARE  OF  MILK  BY  RAILROAD  COMPA- 
NIES. 

G.  E.  Zippel,  Gen.  Agent,  Milk  Department,  Delaware, 
Lackawanna  and  Western  Railroad. 

SOME  ESSENTIALS  FOR  THE  SOLUTION  OF  THE  CITY  MILK  PROBLEM 

NOT  SUFFICIENTLY  CONSIDERED. 
Julius  Moldenhawer,  Assistant  New  York  State  Agricultural 

Department. 
DISCUSSION. 

F.   H.   Stadtmueller,   Health  Officer,   Elmwood,   Conn. 

Veranus  A.  Moore,  Professor  of  Pathology,  Bacteriology  and 

Meat  Inspection,  Cornell  University. 

RESOLUTIONS. 

Ira  S.  Wile,  M.  D. 


SECOND  SESSION. — Friday  Evening,  December  2nd,  8:15   O'clock. 

THE   PUBLIC   MILK   SUPPLIES   AND   THE    PUBLIC 

HEALTH. 

Prof.  William  T.  Sedgwick,  of  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of 
Technology,  Presiding. 

INTRODUCTION  OF  CHAIRMAN. 
Mr.  Stephen  G.  Williams,  Chairman  New  York  Milk  Committee. 


6  • PROGRAM 

ADDRESS    OF    CHAIRMAN — THE    MILK    PROBLEM    IN    AMERICA    TO- 
DAY. 

Prof.  William  T.  Sedgwick,  Boston,  Mass. 

THE  RELATION  OF  THE  PURITY  OF  MILK  PRODUCTS  TO  THE  PUBLIC 
HEALTH. 
Dr.  W.  A.  Evans,  Commissioner  of  Health,  Chicago,  111. 

THE  BEARING  OF  COMMUNICABLE  DISEASES  ON  THE  CONTROL  OF 

PUBLIC  MILK  SUPPLIES. 

Dr.  J.  W.  Kerr,  Assistant  Surgeon-General,  U.  S.  Public  Health 
and  Marine-Hospital  Service. 

BACTERIAL  CONTAMINATION  OF  MILK  AS  A  CAUSE  OF  DISEASE. 
Dr.  William  H.  Park,  Director  of  the  Research  Laboratory  of 
the  New  York  Health  Department. 

THE  REAL  NEED  FOR  PASTEURIZATION. 

Dr.  E.  C.  Schroeder,  Superintendent  of  the  Experiment  Station, 

of  the  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry,  U.  S.  Department 

of  Agriculture. 

MILK  SUPPLIES  OF  VILLAGES. 

Dr.  J.  W.  LeSeur,  Health  Officer,  Batavia,  N.  Y. 

DISCUSSION. 

RESOLUTIONS. 

Ira  S.  Wile,  M.  D. 


THIRD  SESSION. — Saturday  Afternoon,  December  3rd,  2  O'clock. 
MILK    STANDARDS. 

Dr.   Ernst  J.  Lederle,  Commissioner  of  Health,  New  York  City, 

Presiding. 

ADDRESS  OF  CHAIRMAN — THE  PRESENT  METHOD  OF  SANITARY  CON- 
TROL OF  NEW  YORK  CITY'S  MILK  SUPPLY  WITH  SUGGESTED 
PLAN  FOR  IMPROVEMENTS. 

Dr.  Ernst  J.  Lederle,  New  York  City. 

USEFULNESS  AND  LIMITATIONS  OF  MILK  STANDARDS. 

Dr.  L.  L.  VanSlyke,  Chemist,  State  Experiment  Station, 
Geneva,  N.  Y. 

THE  SANITARY  SIDE  OF  THE  MILK  QUESTION. 

Dr.  John  Amyot,  Health  Officer,  Toronto,  Canada. 


PROGRAM 

THE  UTILITY  OF  LABORATORY  MILK  STANDARDS. 

Dr.  John  F.  Anderson,  Director,  Hygienic  Laboratory,  Public 
Health  and  Marine  Hospital  Service,  Washington,  D.  C. 

THE  MILK  SUPPLY  OF  CONNECTICUT. 

Mr.  H.  O.  Averill,  Commissioner  of  Domestic  Animals,  State 
of  Connecticut. 

STANDARDS  OF  MILK  UTENSILS. 

Lyman  Root,  Ex-Health  Officer,  Stamford,  Conn. 

DISCUSSION. 

RESOLUTIONS. 

Ira  S.  Wile,  M.  D. 


FOURTH  SESSION. — Saturday  Evening,  December  3rd,  8:15  O'clock. 
MILK    COMMISSIONS. 

Dr.  Henry  L.  Coit,  President  of  the  American  Association  of 
Medical  Milk  Commissions,  Presiding. 

ADDRESS  OF  CHAIRMAN. 

Dr.  Henry  L.  Coit,  Newark,  N.  J. 

MILK  STANDARDS  AND  How  TO  ENFORCE  THEM. 
George  M.  Whitaker,  Chief,  Market  Milk  Section,  Dairy  Division, 
Bureau  of  Animal  Industry,  U.  S.  Department 
of  Agriculture. 

STATE  REGULATION  OF  MILK  PRICES. 

J.  B.  Coleman,  Deputy  Attorney  General,  New  York  State. 

THE  PRESENT  SYSTEM  OF  MILK  CONTROL. 

Dr.    Charles   E.   North,   Chairman,   Committee  on   Sanitation, 

Bacteriology  and  Public  Health  of  the  New 

York  Milk  Committee. 

THE  NECESSITY  OF  A  CONFERENCE  FOR  THE  IMPROVEMENT  OF  THE 
NATIONAL  MILK  SUPPLY. 

Dr.  G.  Lloyd  Magruder,  Washington,  D.  C. 

DISCUSSION. 

Hon.  W.  F.  Nickle,  Member  of  the  Legislative  Assembly,  Ontario, 

Canada. 

Dr.  Wm.  H.  Park,  Director  Research  Laboratory,  N.  Y.  Health 

Department. 

RESOLUTIONS. 

IRA  S.  WILE,  M.  D. 


8  PROGRAM 

THE    NEW    YORK    MILK    COMMITTEE: 

STEPHEN   G.   WILLIAMS,   Chairman. 
MARSHALL  L.  WARRIN,  Treasurer. 
WILBUR  C.  PHILLIPS,  Secretary. 

CONFERENCE    COMMITTEE : 

Dr.  IRA  S.  WILE,  Chairman. 
Dr.  CHARLES  E.  NORTH.  Dr.  HENRY  C.  SHERMAN. 


FIRST  SESSION 

Friday  Afternoon,  December  2,  two  o'clock. 
MR.  STEPHEN  FRANCIS,  Presiding. 

SUBJECT,  MILE  ECONOMICS. 

The  conference  was  called  to  order  by  Mr.  Wilbur  C.  Phillips, 
Secretary,  New  York  Milk  Committee. 

Mr.  Phillips  said: 

This  meeting  has  been  called  by  the  New  York  Milk  Committee 
for  the  purpose  of  discussing  some  of  the  problems  concerning 
the  milk  supply.  One  of  the  purposes  of  the  Milk  Committee  in 
calling  this  conference  was  to  afford  an  opportunity  for  the  voic- 
ing of  public  opinion  on  milk  matters.  This  will  be  done  in  the 
form  of  resolutions,  which  will  be  introduced  by  Dr.  Wile,  the 
Chairman  of  the  Program  Committee,  at  the  end  of  each  session. 
Persons  who  desire  to  introduce  resolutions  can  introduce  those 
resolutions  through  Dr.  Wile,  by  presenting  them  to  him  in  writ- 
ten form  before  the  end  of  the  conference, 

In  the  absence  of  the  Chairman  of  the  Milk  Committee,  who  is 
unavoidably  detained,  I  take  pleasure  in  introducing  the  Hon.  John 
Purroy  Mitchel,  President  of  the  Board  of  Aldermen  of  New 
York  City. 

MR.  MITCHELL  spoke  as  follows: 

ADDRESS  OF  WELCOME 

LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN:  It  is  my  agreeable  duty  to  wel- 
come you  here  on  behalf  of  the  City  of  New  York.  You  are 
met  here  to  consider  one  of  the  most  important  problems  that 
confronts  this  community,  and  all  the  metropolitan  communi- 
ties of  this  country.  Tersely  put,  I  think  it  can  be  said  to  be 
this:  How  can  we  so  protect  the  milk  supply  as  to  make  in- 
testinal diseases  of  infants  fed  with  cows'  milk,  as  rare  as 
smallpox?  That,  really  is  your  problem. 

This  whole  question  is  past  the  point  when  the  necessity  for 
milk  protection  is  open  to  discussion.  We  know  that  of  six- 
teen thousand  infants  under  the  age  of  one  year  who  die  an- 
nually in  this  city,  approximately  four  thousand  deaths  are 


10  CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

due  to  bad  milk  or  improper  feeding.  The  question  which  we 
face  in  this  city  is  not,  should  we  save  them ;  but  how  shall  we 
save  them? 

Unfortunately,  at  the  present  time,  this  whole  subject  is 
fraught  with  more  uncertainties  than  certainties,  and  is  fuller 
of  questions  than  it  is  of  answers.  The  City  Government  of 
New  York,  on  which,  of  course,  must  rest  the  responsibility 
for  the  solution  of  this  problem  within  the  confines  of  this 
community,  has  reason  to  hope — and  I  think  I  might  even  say 
has  a  right  to  look  to  you — to  clear  up  some  of  these  uncer- 
tainties and  to  furnish  answers  to  some  of  these  questions. 

This  question  of  milk  supply  and  the  protection  of  it,  when 
presented  to  the  Board  of  Estimate  and  Apportionment,  comes 
primarily  as  a  demand  for  money — for  tax  payers'  money. 
That  demand  is  usually  in  the  form  of  an  entering  wedge — a 
trifle  for  experiment, — but  in  whatever  form  that  problem  is 
presented,  or  whatever  the  demand  is,  it  always  involves  a 
principle  that,  sooner  or  later,  will  compel  the  appropriation 
of  money  sufficient  to  treat,  adequately  and  properly,  all  of  the 
milk  consumed.  Now,  the  Board  of  Estimate  is  anxious  to 
proceed,  but  it  needs  light.  It  seems  to  me  that  we  do  not 
need  more  experiments.  What  we  need  is  a  clear  statement 
of  the  facts  already  gathered  in  this  matter,  and  a  comprehen- 
sive program.  Now,  will  you  ladies  and  gentlemen  give  us 
this? 

I  wish  to  outline  a  few  questions  which  I  believe  should  be 
answered,  and  for  which  I  am  convinced  the  Board  of  Estimate 
and  Apportionment  must  get  answers,  before  they  can  proceed 
to  deal  intelligently  with  this  important  question.  Now,  these 
questions  which  I  submit  for  the  consideration  of  this  confer- 
ence are  as  follows: 

Can  efficient  management  secure  safely  clean  milk  within 
the  economic  reach  of  all  citizens? 

Can  the  milk  supply  be  more  adequately  protected  by  State 
inspection  and  supervision  or  by  City  inspection  and  super- 
vision? 

What  injury,  if  any,  results  from  Pasteurized  milk? 

Is  Pasteurization  necessary  for  milk  now  graded  as  certified? 

Is  Pasteurization  on  a  large  scale  successful  anywhere  at 
the  present  time? 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  11 

Will  Pasteurization  make  unnecessary  the  inspection  of  milk 
shops,  depots  or  country  dairies  and  creameries? 

Can  proper  control  over  commercial  Pasteurization  be  se- 
cured by  City  inspection,  or  should  the  City  provide  Pasteur- 
ization plants? 

If  all  milk  were  properly  bottled  at  dairies  and  properly 
iced  at  farms,  in  transit  and  at  stores,  would  Pasteurization 
still  be  necessary? 

Are  conditions  of  marketing  such  that,  without  raising  the 
price  of  milk  in  stores,  the  sale  of  loose  milk  can  be  prohibited 
and  the  bottling  of  all  milk  compelled? 

Would  Pasteurization  appreciably  raise  the  price  of  milk? 

If  the  medical  profession  agrees  that  skimmed  milk  is  nour- 
ishing and  may  be  sold  without  detriment,  if  properly  labelled, 
should  the  law  prohibiting  its  sale  be  repealed? 

Would  this  repeal  reduce  the  cost  of  clean  milk? 

Has  the  cost  of  a  comprehensive  clean  milk  program  for 
New  York  City  been  worked  out,  providing  for — 

(1)  The  protection  of  all  milk  necessary  for  infant  feed- 
ing, and — 

(2)  The  protection  of  all  milk  used  for  all  purposes? 
Will  the  new  City  milk  stations  increase  the  efficiency  of  the 

present  infant  nursing  service,  and  will  they  make  possible 
reduction  in  the  number  of  visits  of  nurses  to  mothers? 

Have  the  courts  anywhere  upheld  restrictive  or  prohibitive 
legislation  on  the  sale  of  impure  milk  by  enforcing  adequate 
penalties  for  violations?  What  is  the  record? 

If  economies  in  the  distribution  of  milk  are  possible,  and  will 
lower  the  price  of  milk  to  the  consumer,  what  steps  can.  be 
taken  to  bring  such  economies  about? 

Is  it  desirable  and  feasible  to  provide  some  form  of  mater- 
nity insurance,  enabling  women  who  are  engaged  in  industrial 
employment  to  refrain  from  such  work  for  sufficient  time  prior 
to  and  after  childbirth? 

Ladies  and  gentlemen,  we  shall  await  with  the  keenest  inter- 
est the  answers  given  by  your  conference  to  these  questions. 

In  behalf  of  the  City  of  New  York,  I  wish  to  thank  you  for 
holding  your  conference  here.  As  you  know,  we  are  beset  by 
the  exponents  of  various  plans  for  furnishing  clean  and  safe 
milk.  We  want  to  do  the  right  thing  for  New  York's  chil- 


12  CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

dren,  but  we  do  not  want  to  divert  money  to  useless  or  dan- 
gerous experiments.  We  hope  you  will  give  us  a  working  pro- 
gram, which  will  answer  and  settle  some  of  these  simple  ques- 
tions for  all  time. 

In  conclusion,  may  I  express  the  conviction  that  the  most 
important  factor,  after  all,  in  saving  babies,  is  not  the  cow 
or  the  dairy  or  the  nurse  or  the  inspector,  or  yet  the  Board 
of  Estimate,  but  it  is  the  mother.  We  have  appropriated  this 
year  some  $40,000  for  the  purpose  of  giving  to  mothers  the 
best  that  science  is  able  to  give  them  in  this  matter.  We  have 
appropriated  that  $4*0,000  for  a  summer's  test,  in  reaching 
mothers,  from  milk  stations  as  a  center.  But  in  reaching 
mothers,  let  me  point  out  that  it  is  most  important  that  they 
be  enabled  to  absorb  the  information  which  we  endeavor  to  ex- 
tend to  them.  Naturally,  when  they  learn  unconsciously,  they 
learn  best.  It  is  therefore  most  important  that  the  truth  be 
given  to  everybody  through  the  medium  of  the  press,  in  the 
numberless  ways  in  which  the  newspapers  and  the  magazines 
may  spread  the  truth.  I  trust  that  you  will  consider  here 
and  suggest  a  program  for  using  the  New  York  press  for  the 
purpose  of  telling  mothers,  particularly  throughout  the  sum- 
mertime, how  hot  waves  can  be  met  without  losing  babies  by 
the  hundreds. 

If,  in  addition  to  the  other  contributions  to  the  general  sub- 
ject at  this  conference,  you  will  suggest  to  the  Department  of 
Health  how  it  can  successfully  enlist  their  co-operation  in  this 
matter,  you  will  render  a  service  to  the  City,  the  value  of 
which  will  be  measured  by  numbers  of  useful  lives  saved  to  the 
citizenship  of  New  York. 

MR.  PHILLIPS:  Mr.  Stephen  Francisco,  ex-President  of  the 
National  Association  of  Certified  Milk  Producers,  who  was  to 
act  as  Chairman  of  this  meeting,  has  been  detained  at  Mont- 
clair.  In  his  absence,  I  will  introduce  Mr.  G.  E.  Zippel,  Gen- 
eral Agent  of  the  Milk  Department  of  the  Delaware,  Lack- 
awanna  &  Western  Railroad,  who  will  speak  on  "The  Trans- 
portation and  Care  of  Milk  by  Railroad  Companies."  I  take 
pleasure  in  introducing  Mr.  Zippel. 

MR.  ZIPPELL  spoke  as  follows: 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  13 

THE    TRANSPORTATION    AND    CARE   OF    MILK   BY 
RAILROAD  COMPANIES 

MR.  CHAIRMAN,  AND  LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN  :  In  response 
to  your  invitation  to  discuss  the  question  of  the  care  and 
handling  of  milk,  from  a  transportation  standpoint,  I  will  tell 
of  the  conditions  prevailing  on  the  Lackawanna  Railroad,  with 
which  I  am  personally  familiar,  having  been  in  charge  of  its 
Milk  Department  for  several  years.  I  will  begin  by  a  descrip- 
tion of  the  cars  used  by  that  Company. 

The  standard  milk  car  of  the  Lackawanna  Railroad  is  42  ft. 
over  the  end  sills  with  steel  underframe  and  is  equipped  with 
standard  passenger  trucks,  high  speed  air  brakes,  and  is,  in 
fact,  from  the  floor  down,  the  same  in  every  particular  as  a 
first-class  passenger  coach.  These  cars  have  a  capacity  of 
SOO  40-qt.  cans  or  ,550  12-qt.  boxes  of  bottled  milk.  They 
are  provided  with  end  and  side  doors,  beveled  and  cushioned 
with  canvas,  opening  in  to  facilitate  handling  at  the  various 
platforms  and  are  equipped  with  a  large  ice  bunker  in  each 
corner,  which  are  filled  by  removing  the  hatches  (the  inside  one 
being  also  beveled  and  cushioned  with  canvas),  and  dropping 
the  ice  through  the  roof.  This  is  done  at  the  various  icing  sta- 
tions provided  for  that  purpose. 

Realizing  the  importance  of  proper  refrigeration  during 
the  time  milk  is  on  the  road,  a  series  of  experiments  has  been 
made  to  secure  the  best  possible  results,  the  object  being  to 
have  sufficient  ventilation  for  the  proper  and  uniform  melting 
of  the  ice  in  the  bunkers,  which  are  cleaned  before  loading  to 
prevent  an  accumulation  of  hay  or  sawdust  and  to  insure  the 
free  circulation  of  air,  resulting  in  regular  and  uniform  re- 
frigeration. 

In  order  to  secure  this  ventilation,  the  specifications  of  our 
milk  cars  provide  for  an  opening  between  the  end  facia  and 
end  plate  through  which  the  air  enters  and  passes  along  the 
entire  length  of  the  car  through  openings  in  the  built  up  car- 
lines  and  out  at  the  other  end.  This  also  draws  air  up  through 
vents  on  the  inside  and  through  two  small  openings  at  each  end 
of  the  car  near  the  bottom,  which  are  covered  with  malleable 
iron  gratings  and  screened.  The  air  passes  through  the  sides 
of  the  cars  between  the  sub-posts  and  lining  by  means  of  open- 
ings cut  in  the  sub-posts  and  then  passes  up  and  into  the  roof 


14-  CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

through  openings  at  the  top.  A  damper  is  placed  in  the  last 
carline  opening  at  each  end,  controlled  and  operated  by  a  rod 
from  the  inside  of  the  car. 

Having  briefly  described  the  system  of  ventilation,  the  re- 
frigeration is  secured  by  constructing  the  car  with  an  out- 
side sheathing  of  yellow  poplar  J"  thick,  an  air  space  of  £J" 
separated  from  a  second  air  space  of  1J"  by  a  sub-lining  of 
white  pine  covered  with  Hydrex  felt  and  sheathed  on  the  inside 
with  white  pine.  This  form  of  construction  has  given  us  the 
best  results  and,  if  milk  is  properly  cooled  at  the  point  of 
shipment,  insures  its  arrival  at  destination  at  a  temperature 
satisfactory  to  the  consignees  and  the  New  York  City  Board 
of  Health. 

Some  years  ago,  one  of  the  milk  carrying  lines,  when  build- 
ing its  equipment,  made  some  interesting  experiments,  for  the 
purpose  of  ascertaining  if  the  color  of  the  car  made  any  dif- 
ference in  the  temperature,  the  standard  color  being  olive. 
One  car  was  painted  all  white,  including  the  roof,  one  with  a 
white  body  and  olive  roof,  and  one  olive  with  a  white  roof.  It 
was  found,  however,  that  the  color  had  no  appreciable  effect 
on  the  temperature  of  the  car. 

Realizing  that  nearly  all  the  milk  used  in  Greater  New  York 
is  brought  here  by  railroad  service,  most  of  it  from  a  distance 
of  from  £00  to  400  miles,  resulting  in  its  being  on  the  road 
eight  to  fifteen  hours,  the  various  companies  serving  the  city 
are  fully  alive  to  the  exacting  conditions  of  this  traffic  and 
have  endeavored,  and  we  hope  successfully,  to  measure  up  to 
its  requirements. 

The  question  of  what  is  the  best  method  of  refrigerating 
milk  in  transit  is  an  open  one.  Some  roads  accomplish  this 
by  placing  ice  directly  on  the  cans  and  others,  by  using  it  in 
bunkers.  In  the  opinion  of  the  writer,  if  the  icing  stations 
are  situated  where  required,  and  the  milk  cars  properly  con- 
structed and  provided  with  bunkers  of  sufficient  capacity,  no 
better  method  has  so  far  been  devised.  I  may  say  in  addition 
to  the  ice  in  the  bunkers,  it  has  been  the  practice  of  the  Lack- 
awanna  to  permit  its  shippers  to  put  ice  on  the  cans  when  they 
desired  to  do  so.  Our  experience,  however,  is  that  this  is  done 
for  the  purpose  of  getting  ice  to  New  York  rather  than  to 
cool  the  milk  en  route. 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  15 

The  foregoing  description  of  our  standard  milk  cars  show 
that  they  are  in  the  same  class  with  the  passenger  equipment, 
are  run  on  passenger  trains,  and,  when  handled  as  solid  milk 
trains,  are  run  on  passenger  time.  These  trains  are  in  charge 
of  a  milk  messenger,  or  train  agent,  whose  duties  are  similar 
to  those  of  an  express  messenger  and  the  service  is  of  the  same 
high  character  as  that  rendered  by  the  express  companies, 
except  that,  on  arrival  at  the  terminals,  the  milk  is  called  for 
by  the  consignees,  instead  of  being  delivered  by  the  Company. 

In  making  up  the  milk  trains,  wherever  carload  shipments 
are  made,  a  car  is  supplied,  which  is  cleaned,  loaded,  and  iced 
by  the  consignor,  the  rate  on  such  shipments  being  twelve  and 
a  half  per  cent,  less  than  that  charged  on  L.  C.  L.  shipments. 
The  balance  of  the  cars  are  distributed  at  convenient  points 
along  the  line,  the  creameries  at  which  they  are  left  cleaning 
them  and  loading  their  output,  to  which  other  consignments 
are  added  until  the  car  is  filled,  two  or  three  stations  usually 
being  sufficient.  It  is  then  locked  and  comes  through  to  its 
destination  where  the  milk  is  unloaded,  the  cars  cleaned,  and 
the  empty  cans  and  boxes  loaded  for  return  to  the  various 
shipping  stations. 

This  handling  is  all  done  at  night,  the  Lackawanna  trains 
arriving  at  9:33,  10:£7,  and  10:3£,  and  leaving  Hoboken  on 
the  return  trip  at  3:30,  3:40,  and  3:50  the  next  morning. 
There  is  a  large  and  efficient  force  at  the  terminal,  consisting 
of  cashiers,  foremen,  and  milk  hadlers,  to  properly  take  care 
of  the  business  in  the  short  time  at  our  disposal. 

I  may  say,  in  closing,  that  the  Lackawanna  owns  no  cream- 
eries and  is  entirely  dependent  on  its  superior  methods,  re- 
liable train  service,  and  splendid  terminal  facilities  to  hold  and 
increase  its  milk  traffic. 

This,  Gentlemen,  is  a  brief  outline  of  the  method  of  han- 
dling milk  by  the  railroads  serving  New  York.  The  traffic  has 
grown  from  a  very  small  beginning,  consisting  of  a  few  cans 
shipped  in  baggage  cars  from  nearby  points,  to  its  present 
proportions  of  solid  trains  of  refrigerator  cars  from  a  dis- 
tance of  over  400  miles.  While  much  has  been  accomplished, 
we  hope  to  be  able  to  still  further  improve  the  service  and,  to 
that  end,  welcome  suggestions  and  intelligent  criticism. 

MR.  PHILLIPS:     What  Mr.  Zippel  has  told  us,  I  am  sure,  is  of 


16  CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

interest  to  every  one  here.  We  have  heard  altogether  too  little  of 
this  question  of  the  transportation  of  milk,  and  his  remarks  have 
given  all  of  us  information  on  this  point  which  we  have  lacked  be- 
fore. 

We  have  on  the  program  Mr.  Julius  Moldenhawer,  who  is  As- 
sistant in  the  New  York  State  Agricultural  Department.  Mr. 
[Moldenhawer  comes  from  the  land  of  Norway  and  Sweden,  where 
the  milk  supply  is  perhaps  on  a  higher  plane  than  in  any  other 
country  in  the  world.  He  has  practically  given  his  entire  life  to 
a  study  of  the  milk  situation,  and  he  is  thoroughly  competent  to 
discuss  "Some  Essentials  for  the  Solution  of  the  City  Milk  Prob- 
lem Not  Sufficiently  Considered."  I  take  great  pleasure  in  intro- 
ducing Mr.  Moldenhawer. 

Mb*.  Moldenhawer,  in  responding,  said :  "I  want  to  make  one  little 
correction.  I  come  from  Denmark  and  not  from  Sweden.  It  is 
all  right,  though;  we  are  Scandinavians,  all  of  us." 

MR.  MOLDENHAWER  spoke  as  follows: 

SOME  ESSENTIALS  FOR  THE  SOLUTION  OF  THE 
CITY  MILK  PROBLEM  NOT  SUFFICIENTLY  CON- 
SIDERED 

The  efforts  of  all  forces  interested  in  the  problem  of  milk 
supply  of  cities  are  combined  towards  the  one  main  object: 
"Enough  milk  of  good  quality  for  all,"  and  much  has  been  ac- 
complished ;  still  there  is  enormous  work  to  be  done  which  never 
can  be  done  until  all  the  people  interested  will  try  to  work 
together  instead  of  each  one  only  looking  after  his  own  inter- 
est. Genuine  cooperation  is  necessary. 

Fundamentally  only  two  parties  are  to  be  considered :  Pro- 
ducers and  Consumers — transportation  companies  and  dealers 
are  only  links,  though  at  present  necessary.  While  all  are 
consumers,  still  the  producers  are  of  first  importance  as  we  all 
depend  on  the  farmers  to  supply  our  food. 

The  consumer  complains  that  milk  costs  too  much,  the 
farmer  complains  that  it  does  not  pay  him  to  produce  good, 
pure  milk  at  the  price  he  receives.  And  while  producers  and 
consumers  agree  that  the  middleman  (the  milk  dealers)  make 
too  great  profit,  still  the  main  remedy  for  the  whole  trouble 
lies  in  the  reduction  in  the  cost  of  production.  This  can  only 
be  brought  about  by  various  means  of  educating  the  farmer, 
as  already  is  being  done  in  many  ways  by  the  Department  of 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  17 

Agriculture,  thereby  gradually  enabling  him  to  produce  two 
bushels  of  feed  instead  of  one  and  two  gallons  of  milk  at  the 
present  cost  of  one.  This  must  and  will  be  done  as  certainly 
as  farmers  in  Denmark  and  other  lands  have  through  necessity 
learned  to  do  so,  and  are  profitably  importing  feed  from  Amer- 
ica for  their  cows  and  pigs.  The  principal  means  by  which 
the  Danish  farmers  have  succeeded  is  cooperation,  which  has 
been  adopted  in  every  line  connected  with  farming,  such  as 
cowtest  associations,  breeding  associations,  creameries,  slaugh- 
ter-houses, machine  shops,  egg  exports,  etc.,  all  on  a  strictly 
cooperative  basis.  Our  farmers  must  learn  to  do  likewise,  and 
only  as  the  farmer  becomes  more  progressive  and  successful 
will  the  city  people  obtain  better  food,  and  especially  better 
milk  at  a  fair  price.  We  are  constantly  told  that  American 
farmers  will  never  cooperate — why?  Is  this  not  greatly  caused 
by  our  exaggerated  emphasis  on  independence?  Everyone  for 
himself,  etc. — extreme  competition  along  every  line  of  the  dairy 
industry  is  its  greatest  enemy ;  cooperation  will  prove  its  only 
salvation. 

LINKS    BETWEEN    PRODUCER    AND    CONSUMER. 

We  all  like  to  put  the  blame  on  others.  The  farmer  criti- 
cizes the  railroads  for  poor  transportation,  high  rates,  etc. — 
not  without  cause.  The  milk  companies  are  blamed  for  mak- 
ing too  large  profits  and  handling  the  milk  carelessly,  in  which 
there  also  often  is  much  truth.  At  the  same  time  the  farmer 
overlooks  his  own  shortcomings,  and  too  many  agricultural 
papers  pour  oil  on  the  fire  instead  of,  like  such  papers  as 
Hoards  Dairyman  and  a  few  others,  fearlessly  telling  the 
farmers  their  shortcomings  and  advising  them  how  to  remedy 
them.  All  are  blaming  the  so-called  "milk  trusts"  for  every 
kind  of  trouble,  while  after  all  the  consumer  receives  a  better 
and  safer  product  to-day  from  a  number  of  large  companies, 
than  when  the  milk  was  handled  by  thousands  of  small  dealers. 
A  properly  controlled  consolidation  of  the  city  milk  supply  is 
of  equal  benefit  to  producers  and  consumers.  Whether  it  is 
accomplished  through  consolidation  or  cooperation  of  many 
milk  companies,  or  through  municipal  ownership  must  depend 
on  local  conditions.  A  consolidated  city  milk  supply  operated 
by  a  farmers'  cooperative  society  will  hardly  succeed.  Let  the 


18       CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

farmers  only  learn  to  cooperate  in  the  country  and  they  will 
not  need  to  run  any  city  business. 

ONE    MEANS    OF    REDUCING    COST    OF    PRODUCTION. 

We  have  spoken  of  the  education  of  the  farmer,  especially 
how  to  produce  at  less  cost,  but  there  is  one  problem  much 
talked  about,  which  affects  the  farmer  more  than  any  other 
industry:  the  securing  of  reliable  farm  labor.  The  exodus  in 
years  past  of  the  young  men  from  the  farms  in  the  East  to  the 
new  West  and  to  the  cities  has  deprived  the  land  of  the  first 
essential  for  profitable  cultivation :  the  necessary,  efficient  farm 
help.  Many  old  farmers  thus  find  themselves  compelled  to  sell 
their  farms  greatly  below  their  value,  and  here  is  the  greatest 
chance  awaiting  thousands  of  young,  intelligent  farmers  who 
have  not  been  able  to  secure  their  own  homes  in  the  West 
where  farmlands  have  risen  to  excessive  prices.  The  Agricul- 
tural Department  of  the  State  of  New  York  has,  during  the 
last  few  months,  received  thousands  of  letters  from  farmers  in 
the  West;  and  the  speaker  has  alone  received  over  three  hun- 
dred (300)  such  letters,  from  Germans,  Danes,  Swedes,  Nor- 
wegians and  Finlanders,  asking  prices  for  farms  in  New  York 
State.  Nearly  all  these  people  have  large  families  and  have 
made  some  money  which  will  suffice  to  buy  farms  for  themselves 
as  well  as  their  boys.  Here  is  the  soundest  of  all  methods  of 
solving  the  farm  labor  problem,  one  of  the  first  essentials  to 
produce  more  food  at  less  cost,  and  especially  more  and  better 
milk.  Germans  and  Scandinavians  are  especially  desirable  as 
most  of  them  are  experienced  stock-breeders  and  dairymen, 
which  we  need  most  of  all.  We  hope,  before  long,  to  have 
several  small  colonies  of  these  people  established  in  various  sec- 
tions of  the  State  and  not  only  will  they  themselves  be  able  to 
make  dairying  pay  and  supply  good  milk  at  lower  cost,  but 
their  example  will  necessarily  have  a  good  effect  and  cause 
others  to  do  likewise. 

THE  CONSUMER  INFLUENCED  BY  THE  CITY  PAPERS. 

The  consumers  would  be  more  reasonable  if  not  constantly 
stirred  up  by  exaggerated  and  misleading  views  expressed  by 
many  city  dailies.  Strange  that  people  dare  use  milk  at  all, 
hearing  about  all  the  horrors  lurking  in  milk.  As  a  fact  we 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  19 

have  much  better  milk  to-day  than  ever  before,  and  are  better 
off  by  buying  our  milk  from  a  few  responsible  milk  companies 
than  from  thousands  of  peddlers  as  in  years  gone  by.  The 
consumer  can  help  much  by  appreciating  the  good  work  of 
several  dealers  and  by  not  blaming  all  milk  troubles  on  the 
farmer  and  dealer,  but  learn  to  care  better  for  the  milk  after 
he  receives  it.  Cooperation  must  be  the  slogan  all  along  the 
line. 

MR.  PHILLIPS:  Students  of  the  milk  problem  have  expressed 
concern  from  time  to  time  that  what  is  said  about  the  character 
of  the  milk,  its  bacteriological  content,  its  qualities,  and  its  possi- 
bilities of  carrying  infection,  may  discourage  the  use  of  milk,  with- 
out which  most  important  food,  our  children  will  grow  up  under- 
nourished and  physically  unfit  to  compete  with  other  children  and 
to  develop  into  strong  and  healthy  citizens.  The  New  York  Milk 
Committee  issued  recently  a  leaflet  on  the  care  of  milk  in  the 
home,  and  in  this  leaflet,  this  significant  statement  is  found: 
"Milk  borne  diseases  are  far  less  common  than  the  underfeeding 
which  results  from  the  use  of  too  little  milk."  We  all  realize  that 
the  excessive  infant  mortality  in  this  City  is  largely  occasioned  by 
the  fact  that  mothers  are  unable,  on  account  of  poverty,  to  purchase 
a  milk  which  is  safe  for  their  babies.  We  also  realize  that  there 
is  a  very  close  relationship  between  retardation  in  the  public  schools 
and  under-nourishment.  The  New  York  School  Lunch  Committee 
has  said  that  children  who  are  unsuccessful  in  school,  in  the  ma- 
jority of  cases,  are  underfed,  and  that  once  you  give  these  chil- 
dren sufficient  nourishment,  so  that  they  can  compete,  physically 
and  intellectually,  with  their  schoolmates,  their  lives  become  suc- 
cesses instead  of  failures,  they  succeed  in  their  school  life,  and 
they  are  started  out  on  the  pathway  to  strong  and  efficient  citizen- 
ship. And  the  reason  that  so  many  of  our  school  children  are 
under-nourished  is  that  their  parents  are  too  poor  to  afford  a 
milk  which  is  essential  to  the  lives  and  to  the  health  of  these  chil- 
dren. 

Now,  if  we  recognize  that  our  infants  are  our  future  citizens,  and 
that  the  strength  of  the  State  depends  upon  the  number  of  its 
citizens,  then  it  becomes  the  duty  of  the  State  to  see  that  the  milk 
upon  which  the  lives  of  our  infants  depend,  is  placed  within  reach 
of  the  pocket-books  of  the  poor.  And  if  we  realize  that  once  these 
children  are  saved  to  the  State,  the  strength  of  the  nation  depends 
upon  their  future  physical  and  intellectual  strength,  then  it  be- 
comes the  duty  of  the  State  to  see  that  proper  food  is  placed  within 


20  CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

the  reach  of  these  children,  in  order  that  they  may  grow  up  to  be 
strong  and  useful  citizens.  Therefore,  the  question  of  the  price  of 
milk  is:  a  question  that  vitally  concerns  the  State. 

We  have  with  us  to-day  a  pioneer  in  the  milk  business,  a  colossal 
figure  among  those  who  have  worked  out  solutions  of  the  question 
of  successful  milk  production.  Mr.  Stephen  Francisco,  ex- 
President  of  the  National  Certified  Milk  Dealers'  Association,  is 
President  of  a  milk  company  which  the  New  York  Milk  Committee 
organized  one  year  ago,  for  the  purpose  of  ascertaining  whether 
a  milk  which  satisfied  the  standards  for  purity  that  are  demanded 
by  the  sanitarians  of  the  country,  can  be  produced  and  sold  in 
New  York  City  at  prices  which  the  majority  of  poor  people  can 
pay.  Mr.  Francisco,  as  President  of  this  philanthropic  and  educa- 
tional milk  company,  the  first  of  its  kind  to  be  established,  as  well 
as  President  of  the  Fairfield  Dairy,  one  of  the  most  successful 
dairies  supplying  certified  milk,  is  very  well  qualified  to  speak  on 
the  subject  of  "Milk  Economics." 

Mr.  Francisco  is  the  Chairman  of  this  meeting,  and  I  take 
pleasure  in  introducing  the  Chairman  at  this  late  moment. 

MR.  FRANCISCO  spoke  as  follows: 

THE  FUTURE  OF  THE  MILK  SUPPLY  FROM  THE 
PRODUCERS'  STANDPOINT 

The  subject  that  I  chose  when  they  asked  me  to  say  some- 
thing to  you  about  milk  production,  was  one  that  was  very 
near  to  my  heart.  Making  clean  milk,  I  think,  is  one  of  the 
greatest  opportunities  any  man  ever  had ;  it  goes  so  far  and 
has  so  much  value.  "The  Future  of  the  Milk  Supply  from 
the  Producers'  Standpoint"  is  the  title  to  which  I  have  at- 
tached a  few  thoughts,  or  just  "avenues."  You  can  investi- 
gate them  and  look  into  them  and  find  where  they  lead. 

As  long  as  the  consumer  insists  upon  getting  something 
cheap,  he  will  be  likely  to  get  something  inferior,  if  not  worth- 
less, or  even  injurious.  As  long  as  the  dealer  takes  the  profit, 
the  consumer  as  well  as  the  producer  is  the  loser,  especially  the 
consumer.  As  long  as  the  producer  depreciates  his  respon- 
sibility, the  loss  is  all  around. 

On  the  producer,  then,  hangs  the  thread  of  the  story — The 
future  of  H:he  milk  supply  of  the  city.  Realizing  the  impor- 
tance of  the  producers'  part,  our  interest  grows  in  the  prob- 
lems that  confront  him. 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  21 

PRODUCERS  PROBLEMS: 

It  has  been  no  secret  that  the  struggle  of  the  past  has  been 
to  extract  a  living  from  the  production  of  milk,  a  necessity. 
The  problem  of  the  future  has  the  added  burden  of  making  that 
production  safe  and  valuable  with  immediate  promise  of  re- 
turns. 

This  problem  has  been  met  by  various  methods,  foremost 
among  which  has  been  that  of  raising  the  requirements  for 
clean  milk. 

A  physician  in  1892  suggested  requirements  for  the  pro- 
duction and  care  of  milk  till  it  reached  the  consumer.  These 
requirements  formulated  in  a  contract  with  a  producer,  have 
been  adopted  by  over  60  Medical  Milk  Commissions  for  the 
production  for  Certified  Milk  in  this  country  and  abroad. 
The  reasonableness  of  this  contract  led  an  assistant  of  Ma- 
jor Alford,  the  Chief  of  the  Dairy  Division,  at  Washington 
to  exclaim:  "This  makes  it  possible  to  secure  a  better  milk 
supply."  The  producers  have  come  to  value  the  advice  of 
the  physicians  and  look  to  them  for  suggestions  in  working 
out  the  problem  of  clean  milk.  But  when  the  physicians  and 
Boards  of  Health  undertook  to  carry  out  these  high  ideals 
there  was  often  times  only  disappointment  for  the  producer; 
for  the  public  discounted  the  value  of  carefulness  in  the  pro- 
duction, with  corresponding  increased  cost  of  the  product; 
and  the  problem  remained  the  same. 

Then  the  method  of  education  was  tried  and  the  producer 
eagerly  responded.  Farmers  sent  their  boys  to  agricultural 
schools  while  agricultural  papers  increased  in  circulation. 
The  farmer  is  being  educated,  but  the  public  remains  igno- 
rantly  unreasonable. 

Another  method  is  being  tried  out,  that  of  co-operation, 
will  it  succeed? 

The  New  York  Milk  Committee  seems  to  be  an  example  of 
this  idea.  Composed  of  physicians,  dietitians,  consumers, 
dealers  and  producers,  it  has  the  chance  to  investigate  and 
counsel  with  sympathetic  understanding  because  of  mutual 
interest.  Their  purpose  is  one,  their  only  glory  or  profit  is — 

a — To  better  the  milk  supply  so  that  a  clean  milk  (less 
expensive  than  Certified)  can  be  had  for  the  masses  at  a 
reasonable  cost. 


22       CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

b — To  help  educate  the  public  to  desire  for  their  little  ones 
such  a  supply  and  to  be  willing  to  pay  the  extra  charge  neces- 
sary to  the  production  of  the  same,  and 

c — To  convince  the  dealer  that  it  costs  no  more  to  sell  a 
clean  milk  than  a  milk  unfit  for  food. 

THERE    MUST    BE    CO-OPERATION. 

The  producer  and  the  dealer  must  be  like  two  brothers. 
The  producer  let  us  liken  to  an  older  brother,  because  he  needs 
more  experience  and  responsibility  in  caring  for  the  herd  and 
meeting  the  many  requirements  necessary  to  secure  a  clean  and 
safe  product.  The  younger  brother  takes  charge  of  and  dis- 
poses of  this  product  at  the  city  end,  a  fair  return  from  the 
sale  of  it  is  expected  by  the  older  brother. 

The  older  brother,  faithful  to  the  cause  of  the  production 
of  clean  milk  sometimes  complains  that  the  younger  brother 
takes  more  than  his  share  of  the  results  sending  back  just  what 
is  left  after  expenses  and  profits  have  been  retained,  giving 
little  thought  that  there  might  not  be  enough  to  pay  the 
cost  of  careful  production. 

It  is  desirable  that  in  the  production  and  sale  of  milk,  the 
producer  should  be  an  equal  partner  in  results  if  he  must 
share  the  responsibilities  to  the  consumer.  And  further,  he 
must  do  all  that  is  necesary  to  insure  a  safe  and  clean  milk. 
Let  the  brothers  divide  the  amount  that  the  milk  brings  on 
the  platform  in  the  country,  at  the  R.  R.  station,  working  to- 
gether to  give  a  clean  milk  to  the  consumers  and  demanding 
just  returns  for  the  same. 

A  New  work  of  the  Committee  is  being  tried  in  this  method 
of  co-operation.  The  New  York  Milk  Committee  lent  its 
influence  to  the  formation  of  the  New  York  Dairy  Demon- 
stration Co.  whose  purpose  it  is  to  put  the  findings  of  the 
Committee  on  a  working  basis — to  assume  the  oversight  of  all 
sanitary  methods  and  carry  out  as  far  as  possible  all  useful 
suggestions  made  for  the  production  of  a  clean  milk. 

The  subscribers  of  this  company  are  milk  dealers,  pro- 
ducers, and  philanthropists.  With  $£5,000,  a  part  of  which 
has  been  spent  for  a  creamery,  finished  and  equipped  with 
modern  machinery  by  the  aid  of  the  sanitary  expert  of  the 
Committee,  assisted  by  the  Chairman  of  the  Milk  Committee 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  23 

(a  producer  of  Certified  Milk)  and  a  member  of  the  Milk 
Dealers  Committee  with  large  experience  in  the  sale  of  milk ; 
both  of  whom  are  on  the  Executive  Committee  of  the  Board 
of  Directors,  the  company  has  begun  its  work.  The  manager 
is  Mr.  H.  B.  Winters  who  can  be  addressed  at  30  Church  St. 
Terminal  Building,  New  York  City,  or  Homer,  N.  Y., 

SOME   OF    THE    REQUIREMENTS   NOW    IN    OPERATION. 

In  testing  the  cattle  by  the  State  Board  of  Agriculture  the 
suroundings  and  care  of  the  cattle  must  be  conducted  as  they 
direct,  all  reacting  animals  being  removed. 

Further,  all  utensils  that  are  used  in  the  gathering,  han- 
dling, and  carrying  of  the  milk  at  the  creamery,  must  be  left 
at  the  creamery  to  be  washed  and  sterilized. 

The  farmers  have  been  wondering  what  further  require- 
ments, besides  testing  their  cows  and  milking  in  certified  pails, 
would  be  required  of  them  by  our  Sanitary  Expert. 

One  farmer  who  has  53  head  offered  his  herd  and  farm 
and  allowed  the  Demonstration  Co.  to  test  and  score.  The 
President  of  the  company  with  its  Sanitary  expert  and  man- 
ager, attended  the  investigation.  The  accuracy  of  the  tuber- 
culin test  was  proved  in  every  instance.  The  examination  of 
the  organs  showed  the  presence  of  tuberculosis,  although 
the  general  appearance  gave  nothing  to  indicate  its  pres- 
ence. The  farmer  was  game,  said  he  felt  repaid  and  was  ready 
to  go  on,  for  he  had  a  tuberculin  tested  herd.  Other  farmers 
followed  his  example  and  are  anxiously  waiting  to  have  their 
farms  scored  and  cattle  tested,  ready  to  meet  the  requirements 
of  the  New  York  Dairy  Demonstration  Co.  for  the  advance  of 
one  cent  per  quart  which  adds  about  &5  per  cent  to  their  in- 
come over  the  old  way,  besides  the  satisfaction  of  owning  and 
operating  a  farm  that  is  practical  and  up-to-date. 

Let  us  repeat: 

Milk  from  tuberculin  tested  cows  is  taken  in  covered  pails 
and  cans  which  are  washed  and  sterilized  at  the  creamery  in 
the  country. 

If  any  other  milk  is  received  it  is  also  milked  into  covered 
pails  and  under  the  same  sanitary  control,  but  is  immedi- 
ately scientifically  pasteurized,  in  a  holding  tank  pasteurizer, 
and  labeled  pasteurized,  at  the  creamery  in  the  country. 


24  CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

Therefore,  with  a  building  equipped  with  the  best  modern 
machinery,  located  where  the  farmers  are  intelligent  and  where 
1200  cans  of  milk  is  produced  within  a  radius  of  six  miles, 
there  is  an  opportunity  to  select  from  the  Dairymen  those  who 
are  willing  to  co-operate  in  the  production  of  clean  milk. 

This  has  been  done  at  Homer,  where  the  farmers  after 
three  months'  operation  of  the  New  York  Dairy  Demonstra- 
tion Co.,  are  anxiously  waiting  to  accept  the  advantage  of  the 
extra  price  given  for  such  high  ideals.  I  believe  it  can  be 
duplicated  all  over,  where  milk  is  produced. 

Will  this  co-operation  plan  succeed?  That  is  one  of  the 
questions  of  the  future.  From  the  producer's  point  of  view  it 
is  promising;  for  he  is  at  last  considered,  his  work  paid  for, 
and  clean  milk  assured. 

THE  CHAIRMAN  (Mr.  Francisco) :  Now,  we  have  had  some  very 
valuable  papers  here  this  afternoon,  and  I  think  the  greatest  value 
of  any  paper  is  in  its  discussion,  and  especially  in  asking  the 
authors  of  the  papers  any  questions  that  may  come  into  your  minds, 
so  that  you  can  understand  just  what  they  mean. 

Now,  Mr.  F.  H.  Stadtmueller,  Health  Officer  of  Elmwood,  Conn., 
will  lead  in  this  discussion.  All  of  the  speakers  will  please  come 
to  the  platform  and  give  us  their  names.  We  will  appreciate  this. 
Is  Mr.  Stadtmueller  present? 

MR.  STADTMUELLER  spoke  as  follows: 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  The  problem  in 
which  we  are  all  interested,  the  production  and  distribution  of 
milk,  is  a  matter  of  very  much  importance,  as  anybody  at  all  con- 
versant with  modern  conditions  can  see.  As  to  the  best  methods 
of  obtaining  the  ends  in  view,  there  is  a  great  diversity  of  opinion. 

We  have  heard  one  speaker  this  afternoon  say  something  about 
the  matter  of  competition.  Now,  that  very  competition,  which  is 
the  life  of  trade,  although  somewhat  questioned  by  the  modern 
institutions  and  methods  of  the  trusts,  and  becoming  somewhat  ob- 
solete, nevertheless  accounts  for  a  great  deal  of  the  life  that  is  in 
our  milk.  Competition,  in  the  business,  accounts  for  a  great  deal 
of  the  bacterial  activity  or  the  actual  life  in  milk,  a  statement  that 
cannot  be  controverted. 

The  matter  of  organization  has  been  touched  upon,  a  matter 
that  is  gaining  tremendous  force  throughout  the  civilized  world, 
and  it  is  amazing,  in  many  respects,  that  the  agricultural  interests 
of  the  cxmntry  do  not  take  advantage  of  the  abundant  illustrations 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  25 

that  we  have  on  all  sides,  and  organize.     A  great  deal  can  be  ac- 
complished through  organization. 

I  was  very  much  pleased  by  the  paper  presented  by  Mr.  Zippel, 
in  which  he  so  clearly  indicated  the  methods  adopted  by  the  rail- 
roads for  the  proper  transportation  of  milk.  I  think  that  any 
transportation  company  or  public  service  corporation  that  will  pro- 
vide equipment  of  the  kind  described,  whereby,  if  it  receives  the 
milk  at  the  proper  temperature  (namely,  that  of  about  45  degrees) 
it  can  guarantee  to  keep  it  there  to  the  point  of  delivery,  is  deserv- 
ing of  great  credit.  That  is  a  remarkable  achievement,  and  one  of 
extraordinary  benefit  to  a  community  like  New  York. 

Whatever  phase  one  takes  of  this  discussion,  the  most  important 
thing  that  crops  out — -at  least  to  me — is  and  always  has  been  the 
lack  of  attention  to  basic  principles — those  large  questions  and 
problems  of  life  beyond  the  control  of  the  individual,  which,  after 
all,  are  the  cause  of  the  conditions  confronting  us  to-day.  With 
your  permission,  I  will  ask  your  attention  to  the  unfolding  of  some 
of  those  problems. 

In  approaching  the  whole  problem,  for  instance,  we  never  stop 
and  ask  ourselves,  why  does  a  farmer  ever  make  milk?  If  you  will 
begin  with  that  as  your  basis,  and  follow  it  to  its  logical  conclusion, 
to  the  time  of  the  delivery  of  your  milk  at  the  city  and  at  your 
house,  at  your  table,  I  think  you  will  be  rather  astonished  at  the 
number  of  forces  that  are  contributing  factors  to  that  movement, 
and  to  see  how  helpless  the  efforts  of  any  one  individual  are  to- 
ward the  correction  of  abuses. 

The  factors  contributary  to  milk  economics  are  legion.  More- 
over, these  factors  vary  both  in  kind,  intensity  and  importance  ac- 
cording to  the  locality  involved,  *.  e.,  the  problems  of  New  York 
city  are  obviously  different  from  those  of  remote  rural  communities, 
although  there  is  a  certain  interdependence  between  the  two. 

The  most  important  factor  is  that  the  price  of  milk  is  largely 
determined  by  the  price  of  butter.  Some  exception  may  be  taken 
to  the  foregoing  statement  on  the  ground  that  in  this  respect  cheese 
occupies  a  similar  position.  This  basic  principle  of  milk  economics, 
though  well  understood  is,  nevertheless,  so  frequently  ignored  that 
it  will  be  well  to  devote  a  few  moments  to  a  brief  detailed  recapitu- 
lation thereof. 

This  important  position  of  butter  originates  from  three  condi- 
tions. A  practice  common  to  all  farms  of  this  and  adjacent  states, 
with  relatively  few  exceptions,  is  the  keeping  of  one  or  more  cows. 
Even  where  but  one  cow  is  kept  an  abundance  of  milk,  in  excess 
of  the  family  needs,  usually  exists  for  an  indefinite  period  of  each 
lacteal  period.  Consequently,  at  such  times,  to  avoid  waste,  the 


26       CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

common  practice  was,  and  with  minor  exceptions  continues  to  be  the 
case,  to  convert  the  perishable  surplus  into  butter  or  cheese  or 
both.  Such  procedure  not  only  avoids  waste,  but  increases  the 
marketing  facilities  of  the  product,  as  butter  and  cheese,  being  in 
a  much  more  concentrated  and  less  perishable  form  than  milk, 
can  be  shipped  greater  distances  before  the  freight  becomes  pro- 
hibitive. This  principle  of  conservation  naturally  receives  added 
force  with  the  increase  in  the  stand  of  cows  maintained. 

The  second  (important)  reason  why  butter  determines  the  price 
of  milk  embraces  the  one  just  enumerated  with  the  added  opportu- 
nity butter  offers  for  the  marketing  of  numerous  farm  products  for 
more  money  than  could  otherwise  be  obtained  therefor.  Thus  in 
addition  to  the  grazing  land  of  pastures,  bearing  in  mind  that  pas- 
tures usually  comprise  such  areas  of  farms  as  are  not  readily 
adapted  to  tillage  purposes,  there  is  much  waste  material  such  as 
fine  or  clover  hay,  not  suited  for  horse  feeding  and,  consequently, 
limited  to  farm  use,  cullings  from  root  crops,  vegetables,  etc.  Fur- 
thermore, granting  the  crops  just  mentioned  might  be  sold,  yet 
they  admittedly  are  of  low  value  and  are  either  exceedingly  bulky 
or  heavy,  either  of  which  characteristics  limits  their  transportation. 
Through  their  conversion  to  butter  they  become  exceedingly  con- 
densed into  a  greatly  enhanced  valuable  product,  capable  of  in- 
finitely greater  transportation  and  resultant  limitless  market. 

The  third  condition  abounds  in  the  great  opportunities  for  con- 
servation of  soil  fertility  provided  through  butter  .production.  Thus 
when  crops  are  sold  directly  from  farms,  much  of  the  major  por- 
tion of  plant  food  required  for  their  growth  is  removed  from  the 
farm.  Where  milk  is  sold  and  proper  treatment  is  accorded  the 
manure,  about  20  %  is  removed,  while  when  butter  is  made  and 
sold  from  the  farm  but  about  1  %  is  removed. 

The  price  function  exerted  by  butter  upon  milk  is  what  has  as- 
sured the  supply  of  milk  to  all  large  centers  of  population  in 
suitable  abundance  and  at  fairly  uniform  cost.  Moreover,  up  to 
about  1895,  when  the  proper  relation  of  micro-organic  activity  and 
raw  milk  effecting  public  health  first  began  to  be  clearly  demon- 
strated, said  supplies  were,  with  minor  exceptions,  based  largely 
upon  adulteration  of  one  kind  or  another,  fairly  adequate  for  the 
needs  of  even  rapid  growing  communities. 

Community  growth,  however,  has  much  to  do  with  existing  con- 
ditions. As  cities  grow  the  needs  thereof  increase  both  in  quantity 
and  diversity.  This  affords  increased  options  for  the  sale  of  energy 
applied  to  farms  in  direct  ratio  of  distance  of  farms  from  cities 
plus  the  size  of  the  latter.  Whereas  a  farmer  originally  was,  in  a 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  27 

large  measure,  for  reasons  previously  stated,  compelled  to  make 
butter,  he  becomes  tempted  to  sell  miilk  when  the  growth  of  a  city 
has  created  a  demand  for  milk  sufficient  to  pay  a  premium  to  meet 
the  loss  of  fertility  imposed  by  the  sale  of  milk  instead  of  butter. 
This  stage  soon  gives  way  to  the  period  when  it  becomes  more  in- 
viting to  raise  vegetables,  fruit,  etc.,  or  even  sell  the  fodder,  hay, 
etc.,  as  such  instead  of  converting  them  into  milk.  The  final  de- 
velopment of  this  evolutionary  process  is  attained  whenever  the 
market  prices  of  farm  products  other  than  milk  provides  a  premium 
sufficient  to  offset  the  increased  loss  in  fertility  of  the  soil  brought 
about  by  the  growth  and  sale  of  such  products. 

The  hay  crop  affords  a  concrete  illustration  of  the  foregoing. 
The  current  market  price  of  hay  is  $22.00  per  ton.  A  ton  of  hay 
carries  about  $6.50  of  fertility,  consequently  a  dairyman  within 
close  distance  of  a  city  should  obtain  about  $17-00  per  ton  for  hay 
fed  to  produce  milk.  To  meet  this  requirement  would  raise  the 
current  price  of  milk  about  25  %.  It  may  be  and  frequently  is 
argued  that  farmers  should  seek  to  overcome  the  economic  situa- 
tion just  detailed  by  growth  of  cheaper  crops  than  hay.  While 
such  action  is  undertaken,  to  a  certain  extent,  it  is  nevertheless 
transitory  and  not  enduring  inasmuch  as  the  controlling  factor  is 
that  of  maximum  revenue  for  energy  expended.  That  is,  under 
such  circumstances,  farmers  are  concerned,  not  so  much  with  les- 
sening the  cost  of  milk  production  through  the  use  of  cheaper  food 
products,  as  they  are  in  the  increase  in  the  price  of  milk  adequate 
to  meet  the  term  offered  by  the  less  and  infinitely  simpler  hazard- 
ous task  of  growing  and  selling  hay  or  whatever  other  crop  it  may 
be.  Rather  than  meet  the  required  premium,  milk  contractors  ex- 
tend the  zone  of  milk  supply  and  draw  on  localities  where  butter 
still  determines  the  price  of  milk.  On  the  other  hand,  the  farmer 
owing  to  habit  and  the  difficulty  of  changing  money  invested  in  his 
existing  dairy  equipment,  is  loath  to  abandon  his  work.  Unable 
to  obtain  a  price  for  his  milk  commensurate  with  the  market  price 
of  hay,  he  naturally  seeks  to  produce  the  former  at  a  lower  price 
which  he  can  do  by  producing  milk  of  lower  food  value.  This  is 
accomplished  through  the  use  of  large  milk  producing  types  of 
cattle,  principally  represented  by  the  Holland  breeds.  Generally 
speaking  and  broadly  stated  it  is  well  known  that  the  food  constitu- 
ents of  milk  decrease  with  the  increase  of  yield  of  milk.  Much 
of  the  favor  accorded  Holstein  cows  rests  upon  the  foregoing  facts ; 
they  are  economical  producers  of  milk  when  measured  by  the  stand- 
ard of  quantity  only.  Their  ability  as  economic  producers  meas- 
ured by  food  value  of  milk  has  not  yet  been  demonstrated. 


28       CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS  • 

Another  collateral  procedure  is  to  round  off  corners  in  labor  re- 
quired in  caring  for  the  animals,  the  effect  of  which,  while  reduc- 
ing the  cost,  imperils  the  sanitary  quality  of  the  output. 

This  concrete  illustration  of  the  price  of  hay  is  capable  of  dupli- 
cation in  one  way  or  another  by  numerous  other  crops,  and  appli- 
cable to  zones  of  various  dimensions.  However,  whenever  dairy- 
ing exists  under  the  operation  of  such  influences  and  all  other 
things  are  equal,  it  defines  the  places  where  the  poorest  milk  is 
produced.  This  accounts  for  the  well  known  and  seemingly  anoma- 
lous condition  that  the  milk  handled  by  contractors  produced  rela- 
tively near  to  place  of  disposal  is  frequently  inferior  to  that  ob- 
tained at  more  remote  points. 

Moreover,  other  deterrent  factors  attend  the  growth  of  com- 
munities which  affect  the  actions  of  farmers  in  close  proximity  to 
such  places.  Land  values  appreciate  rapidly  resulting  in  higher 
assessments  and  taxes. 

For  instance,  take  the  land  in  the  immediate  vicinity  of  New 
York  City.  Carry  yourselves  back  before  New  York  State  attained 
its  present  proportions.  There  was  a  time  somewhere  or  other 
when  the  land  was  only  worth  $15  to  $20  an  acre,  and  when  milk 
was  sold  from  there  and  consumed  here  in  New  York;  but  with  the 
great  growth  of  New  York  City,  and  with  the  "unearned  incre- 
ment" that  flows  out  to  the  country,  these  lands  are  worth  even,  in 
some  instances,  $400  an  acre.  Now,  a  farm  of  from  twenty  to 
thirty  acres  at  $400  an  acre,  represents  an  infinitely  greater  in- 
vestment than  a  farm  100,  200,  or  even  300  miles  from  New  York, 
on  a  basis  of  $25  per  acre.  Land  situated  close  to  a  great  city 
increases  greatly  in  value  as  the  city  grows,  and  the  owner  of  the 
land  is  confronted  with  the  problem  of  earning  a  fair  income  on 
his  investment.  That  fact  becomes  an  added  cost  to  milk  pro- 
duction. In  that  way,  the  difference  in  land  values  alone,  vary- 
ing from  those  of  a  farm  worth  $200  an  acre  and  those  of  a  farm 
worth  $25  an  acre,  other  things  being  equal,  will  add  almost  a  cent 
to  the  actual  cost  of  the  production  of  the  milk  itself.  If  you 
do  not  believe  that,  you  can  make  the  computation  yourself.  It 
is  a  very  simple  problem  in  mathematics. 

The  labor,  although  more  readily  obtained,  is  of  inferior  quality 
and  more  expensive  than  that  at  more  remote  points.  Social  rivalry 
is  more  intense,  demanding  a  more  expensive  scale  of  living.  All 
of  which  sooner  or  later  change  farm  practices  even  where  indi- 
viduals at  first  ignore  or  oppose  the  forces  enumerated.  Conse- 
quently, milk  zones  have  been  constantly  extended.  The  total  ef- 
fect of  the  forces  just  reviewed  may  be  graphically  considered  by 
the  fact  that  were  it  not  for  these  conditions  all  the  milk  required 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  29 

by  New  York  could  be  readily  produced  within  a  radius  of  60  to 
70  miles  without  serious  disturbance  to  any  existing  industry,  as 
against  the  existing  radius  exceeding  300  miles. 

In  other  words,  there  is  enough  land  here  within  sixty  or  seventy 
miles  of  New  York  City  to  supply  all  the  milk  that  New  York 
needs,  and  at  a  vast  saving  in  freight,  if  it  was  properly  cultivated 
and  tilled.  Why  isn't  it?  It  is  because  of  these  forces  that  I  have 
just  referred  to — not  all  of  them,  but  a  part  of  them. 

I  live  within  five  miles  of  the  city  of  Hartford,  a  city  with  prac- 
tically 100,000  population.  There  are  good  roads  right  into  the 
city.  It  is  five  miles  to  the  center;  not  to  the  outskirts.  Within 
three  years,  more  than  a  hundred  cows  have  gone  out  of  business, 
as  you  start  and  drive  from  my  house  to  that  wonderful  market 
of  Hartford — going  right  toward  it.  The  buildings  are  there, 
the  land  is  there,  the  equipment  is  there;  everything  except  the 
cows.  The  sun  shines  there  just  as  it  used  to.  The  rain  falls  and 
moistens  the  land,  and  the  grass  grows  as  luxuriantly  as  ever.  But 
still,  as  Hartford  grows  and  the  demand  for  milk  grows,  just  be- 
cause of  these  conditions  that  I  have  mentioned,  those  owners  have 
been  forced  out  of  the  milk  business  because  they  did  not  get 
enough  for  their  milk.  And  that  is  the  effect  these  conditions  are 
having  right  around  me  and  around  every  other  large  community. 

The  labor  problem,  on  dairy  farms  in  particular,  is  exceedingly 
unsatisfactory.  Explanations  of  this  are  too  emphatic  in  ascribing 
the  causes  thereof  to  the  gregarious  instinct  of  man,  which  is  urged 
with  greatest  frequency  as  the  most  prominent  cause.  The  princi- 
pal difficulty  rests  upon  the  fact  that  farm  labor,  when  compared 
with  the  units  of  energy  and  skill  required  with  that  in  most  all 
other  industries  is  the  lowest  paid  class  of  labor.  Any  doubt  re- 
garding this  statement  may  be  removed  by  consulting  the  eigh- 
teenth report  of  the  U.  S.  Commissions  of  Labor  published  in  1Q03. 
The  disparity  then  existing  has  become  intensified  since  then.  The 
significance  of  the  great  changes  wrought  in  the  disposition  of 
labor  during  the  past  forty  years  is  overlooked.  By  the  intense  ap- 
plication of  the  law  of  division  of  labor  which  has  in  its  application 
made  such  rapid  progress  during  the  period  just  mentioned,  the 
demand  for  skilled  labor  has  largely  disappeared.  In  former  times 
a  man  followed  his  work — the  position  is  now  reversed,  and  the 
work  is  brought  to  the  man. 

You  find  a  good  illustration  of  this  in  the  trade  of  a  locksmith, 
or  even  of  a  watchmaker.  And  you  haven't  got  to  look  very  far 
until  you  find  any  number  of  such  trades  that  have  become  obsolete 
because  of  the  operation  of  this  law  of  labor,  whereby  the  work  is 
divided  or  sub-divided.  A  man  is  placed  at  a  machine  to  make  only 


30       CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

one  part  of  the  whole;  another  man  is  placed  at  another  machine 
to  make  another  part;  and  then  all  of  these  parts  are  brought  to- 
gether from  these  different  departments  to  the  assembling  room, 
where  girls  or  boys  simply  take  one  part  out  of  each  little  tray  and 
put  them  together,  and  lo  and  behold!  there  is  the  lock  or  the 
watch.  Under  those  conditions,  no  skill  is  required  except  the 
genius  that  is  required  to  invent  the  machinery  and  build  the 
machinery;  but  after  the  machinery  is  once  built,  the  manufacture 
of  the  lock  or  the  watch  requires  no  skill  any  more  at  all.  Con- 
sequently, those  trades  have  become  obsolete. 

It  has  been  the  same  way  with  the  machinist.  The  all  around 
machinist  has  disappeared.  He  is  either  a  good  lathe  hand,  a 
good  press  hand,  or  a  good  planer  hand;  but  the  all  around  machin- 
ist has  disappeared. 

Farmers  cannot  avail  themselves  of  the  principles  upon  which  this 
change  has  been  built.  They  cannot  have  men  do  nothing  but 
milking,  plowing,  sowing  or  reaping.  The  work  is  constantly 
changing.  The  men  have  to  follow  the  work  as  of  old.  This  re- 
quires plasticity,  and  adaptiveness  to  frequent  changes.  While  it 
is  true  that  this  situation  has  been  ameliorated  in  one  direction 
through  the  introduction  of  improved  farm  machinery  whereby  the 
total  number  of  units  of  labor  required  has  been  reduced,  it  has, 
however,  been  augmented  by  the  very  remedy  enumerated  through 
the  increased  demand  of  skilled  labor  to  operate  the  machinery  used. 
In  brief,  the  farms  now  require  a  much  larger  percentage  of  skilled 
labor,  but  are  prohibited  from  employment  thereof  because  of  the 
limitation  of  wage  imposed  by  the  price  obtained  for  produce  sold. 
Particularly  is  this  true  upon  dairy  farms. 

Moreover,  all  labor  employed  in  most  all  other  industries  is 
placed  or  handled  in  compact  groups  or  places,  capable  of  com- 
prehensive, close  and,  when  necessary,  of  exacting  surveillance,  con- 
ditions rarely  possible  on  dairy  farms.  Consequently,  laborers  who 
chafe  or  resent  factory  conditions  naturally  drift  to  farms  where 
the  environment  is  less  irksome.  This  points  clearly  to  low  effi- 
ciency and  reflects  actual  conditions.  For  our  labor  is  largely  of 
the  foregoing  type  or  recruited  from  foreigners  whose  efficiency,  no 
matter  how  ambitious  the  effort  to  do  may  be,  is  governed  by 
knowledge  of  our  language  which,  in  the  majority  of  cases,  is  ad- 
mittedly nil. 

Just  stop  a  moment  and  think  of  the  dairy  farms.  We  have 
practically  none  but  foreigners  in  the  section  in  which  I  am.  I  do 
not  question  their  willingness  or  their  desire  to  work,  or  their  am- 
bition; I  will  concede  that  they  are  just  as  good  and  better  than  I. 
But  what  is  their  effect  upon  the  milk  supply  that  we  are  discuss- 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  31 

ing?  Can  you  tell  a  farmer  or  make  him  understand  how  to  tell 
a  foreigner  who  does  not  himself  understand  a  word  of  English 
and  who  has  not  been  blessed  with  a  very  good  schooling  in  the 
old  country,  how  to  keep  a  cow  clean  and  get  clean  milk  ?  I  would 
like  to  see  you  do  it.  I  would  like  to  have  you  try  it  just  once. 
That  is  a  constant  condition  confronting  the  dairyman.  Such  a 
foreigner  will  remain  with  him  for  a  week,  or  a  month  or  so  at 
best,  and  as  soon  as  he  can  speak  a  word  or  two  of  English,  he  is 
turned  into  the  factories  or  the  shops  in  the  cities.  The  dairyman 
simply  keeps  breaking  them  in.  That  is  one  of  the  conditions  that 
he  has  to  confront.  It  is  an  economic  situation,  gentlemen,  and  it 
is  a  part  of  the  problem.  You  cannot  dodge  it. 

This  stringency  of  the  labor  question  compels  such  severe  physi- 
cal application  on  the  part  of  the  farmer  as  to  discourage  the  men- 
tal application  needed  to  change  from  dairy  practices  of  the  past 
to  modern  sanitary  conditions,  and  finds  expression  in  the  apathy, 
antipathy  and  distrust  manifested  by  the  majority  of  dairymen 
towards  even  any  suggestion  of  improved  methods. 

Another  matter  worthy  of  consideration  is  the  demand  of  regu- 
larity of  the  milk  supply.  This  involves  the  co-ordination  of  two 
unknown  quantities,  viz.,  the  breeding  or  freshening  of  cows  and 
crop  production.  Cows  breed  with  much  uncertainty  and  irregu- 
larity. Neither  can  the  yield  of  any  crop  be  determined  ere  com- 
pletion of  harvest,  when  it  frequently  is  too  late  to  wholly  avert 
the  effect  of  any  serious  shortage.  Shortage  due  to  either  of  these 
factors  can  only  be  met  by  increased  expense. 

The  price  of  beef  now  exerts  considerable  influence  upon  the 
price  of  milk.  While  this  was  a  negligible  quantity  ten  or  more 
years  ago,  it  has,  during  the  past  three  years,  assumed  considerable 
importance.  This  rests  upon  the  increase  in  value  of  milch  cows 
and  the  agitation  for  the  elimination  of  bovine  tuberculosis  in  dairy 
herds.  Up  to  a  few  years  ago  the  carcass  salvage  amounted  from 
fifty  to  sixty-five  per  cent,  of  the  original  cost  of  cows.  At  pres- 
ent, under  normal  conditions,  it  amounts  to  but  thirty  to  thirty- 
five  per  cent.,  and  in  such  dairies  as  pay  heed  to  the  eradication 
of  bovine  tuberculosis  by  rejection  of  animals  responding  to  tuber- 
culin tests,  the  average  period  of  usefulness  of  cows  is  materially 
diminished  and  causes  greater  expense  through  increased  replace- 
ment of  animals  and  greater  frequency  of  repetition  of  loss  in- 
volved by  carcass  salvage. 

The  effect  of  advance  in  prices  of  concentrated  food  stuffs,  labor 
and  cows  are  so  well  understood  as  to  require  no  detailed  discus- 
sion. 

The  foregoing  remarks  have  touched  the  more  important  phases 


32       CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

affecting  the  productive  sides  of  the  milk  supply.  Other  problems 
are  projected  by  the  collection  and  distribution  of  milk. 

Obviously  there  may  be  and  are  great  differences  in  milk,  i.  e., 
milk  varies  in  richness  or  food  constituents  contained  therein.  The 
range  in  this  respect  may  be  fully  forty  per  cent.  It  also  differs 
in  cleanliness.  The  range  in  this  respect  cannot  be  well  expressed 
numerically,  but  is  exceedingly  great.  The  custom  of  milk  con- 
tractors and  operators  has  been,  in  the  past  at  least,  to  ignore 
any  possible  differences,  paying  a  uniform  price,  no  matter  what 
the  quality  was  so  long  as  it  would  pass  inspection.  The  long  con- 
tinued action  of  this  policy  could  have  and  has  had  but  one  result, 
viz.,  the  practically  uniform  adoption  of  the  lowest  conceivable 
standard  of  quality  consistent  with  such  hasty  and  imperfect  in- 
spection as  is  provided  by  statute.  Moreover,  to  safeguard  the 
prices  of  milk,  contractors  must  necessarily  seek  to  have  at  least 
a  semblance  of,  if  not  an  actual  surplus  of  milk  on  hand  or  in 
sight  most  of  the  time.  This  has  compelled  the  constant  extension 
of  the  milk  zone  in  advance  of  the  actual  needs  of  the  demand. 
Such  action  of  itself,  might  be  justifiable,  but  when  measured  by 
the  penalty  it  imposes  upon  the  quality  of  milk  offered  through 
the  maintenance  of  intense  keen  competitive  conditions,  such  action 
becomes  seriously  questionable.  The  detention  of  milk  at  various 
points  to  make  up  carload  lots  and  thus  secure  lower  freight 
rates  does  not  afford  sufficient  saving,  even  if  such  saving  accrues 
to  consumers,  to  offset  the  deterioration  milk  thus  held  undergoes. 

The  distribution  of  milk  is  governed  too  much  by  convenience 
of  consumers  instead  of  conditions  such  an  exceedingly  perishable 
product  as  milk  requires  to  ensure  its  maximum  usefulness.  The 
distribution  of  milk,  particularly  loose  milk,  should  be  limited  to 
such  as  can  show  proper  knowledge  regarding  the  care  and  han- 
dling milk  requires. 

I  do  not  know  that  you  ever  stopped  to  think  what  inconsistent 
mortals  we  are.  For  instance,  take  the  matter  of  automobiles. 
Now,  a  mortal  of  ordinary  intelligence  can  learn  to  guide  an  auto- 
mobile within  two  or  three  weeks.  I  do  not  mean  to  say  that  he 
can  master  the  intricacies  of  the  mechanism,  and  so  forth,  but  he 
can  learn  to  steer  it  on  the  highways.  If  a  man  wants  to  drive  an 
automobile,  he  has  to  go  up  to  the  Secretary  of  State's  office  in 
our  state — I  do  not  know  just  what  the  procedure  is  in  New  York 
State — and  he  has  to  present  reasonable  assurances  to  the  Secretary 
of  State  that  he  possesses  the  required  skill  and  knowledge,  or  that 
which  is  deemed  to  be  sufficient  to  run  an  automobile,  and  he  has 
to  take  out  a  license  and  pay  a  pretty  good  sum  for  it.  Now,  why? 
Simply  because  you  and  I  and  somebody  else  have  seen  an  auto- 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  33 

mobile  throw  a  man  from  a  bicycle  and  kill  him  or  injure  him. 
That  is  a  thing  we  could  see. 

But  here,  as  we  know  perfectly  well,  is  milk,  which  is  the  most 
perishable  of  foods.  It  would  take  a  very  intelligent  man  to  learn 
all  the  requirements  and  the  limitations  surrounding  its  produc- 
tion in  a  safe  way.  It  would  take  a  very  intelligent  man  to  famil- 
iarize himself  with  all  those  details  inside  of  six  months  or  a  year, 
at  the  most.  Nevertheless,  any  Tom,  Dick  or  Harry,  whenever  the 
mood  seizes  him  can  go  to  work  and  manufacture  milk — make  milk 
— or  can  buy  a  horse  and  cart  and  peddle  it  and  handle  it,  and,  in 
doing  so,  run  the  chance  of  killing  thousands  of  people  by  peddling 
poison  up  and  down  the  streets,  carte  blanc,  and  we  fold  our  hands 
and  say,  "Amen;  it  is  all  right." 

In  this  necessarily  hasty  and  brief  discussion  only  the  salient 
features  of  milk  economics  have  been  touched.  From  what  has  been 
said  the  following  deductions  may  be  made: 

1.  The  existing  standard  of  market  milk  is  the  culmination  of 
forces  and  practices  of  long  duration  and  where  the  principle  of 
price  has  dominated  to  the  exclusion  of  practically  all  other  con- 
siderations excepting  that  of  adulteration. 

2.  Such  procedure  has  resulted  in  a  very  low  standard,  but  has, 
nevertheless  met  the  approval  of  the  mass  of  consumers  and  pro- 
ducers alike. 

3.  Owing  to  our  knowledge  of  the  possible  and  probable  bacterial 
action  in  milk  produced  under  these  conditions,  the  assurance  thus 
established   through  years   of  experience  has  been  superseded  by 
grave  apprehension. 

4.  The  much  needed  improvement  of  the  milk  standard  can  only 
be  accomplished  through  redirection  and  readjustment  of  the  forces 
and   practices    reviewed.     This    can    not   be   accomplished   without 
material  increase  in  price  of  milk. 

5.  Increase  of  price   in  itself  will  not   materially   improve   the 
situation. 

6.  Efficient   supervision,  inspection   and   police   control  thus   be- 
come imperative. 

7.  Although  the  whole  question  of  milk  improvement  must  fail  if 
it  is  not  an  economic  measure,  nevertheless,  inasmuch  as  any  im- 
provement in  milk  is  more  real  than  apparent,  the  degree  of  suc- 
cess  attained   will   be   in  close   relation  to  the   attitude   of   public 
opinion   to   the   principal    at   issue.     This    calls    for    an   energetic 
campaign  of  education.     The  producer  must  be  taught  to  overcome 
practices  founded  on  years  of  application  and  adopt  new  methods. 
This     emphasizes    the    duties    devolving    upon    inspectors.     They 
should  not  only  be  able  to  categorically  score  stables,  dairies,  etc., 


34       CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

but  should  be  thoroughly  informed  regarding  all  dairy  principles, 
and  practices,  in  order  to  inspire  the  confidence  essential  to  the 
execution  of  such  recommendations  they  have  to  make. 

Consumers  must  also  be  taught  the  greater  economy  a  pure  milk 
supply  vouchsafes.  This  is  really  the  most  difficult  phase  of  the 
whole  problem.  With  many  people,  an  advance  in  price  of  milk 
commensurate  to  meet  the  end  desired,  will  be  seriously  opposed 
and  can  only  be  brought  about  by  complete  readjustment  of  do- 
mestic expenditures. 

8.  Much  confusion  will  attend  all  efforts  for  improvement  be- 
cause one  of  the  basic  principles  upon  which  the  present  price  of 
milk  is  established  has  practically  reached  its  limitations,  viz.,  the 
policy  of  zone  extension  for  new  sources  of  supply  cannot  be  inde- 
finitely extended.  The  price  function  exerted  by  butter  on  the 
price  of  milk  will  cease.  As  soon  as  this  shall  have  occurred,  an 
inevitable  increase  in  price  of  milk  will  follow,  regardless  of 
quality. 

I  submit  that  for  your  consideration.  The  convenience  of  the 
consumer  is  consulted  altogether  too  much  in  the  matter  of  milk 
distribution. 

THE  CHARIMAN:  Is  Prof.  Veranus  A.  Moore  in  the  audience? 
We  would  like  to  have  him  step  forward  and  take  part  in  this  dis- 
cussion. Prof.  Moore,  Professor  of  Pathology,  Bacteriology,  and 
Meat  Inspection,  Cornell  University. 

PROF.  MOORE  spoke  as  follows: 

Some  weeks  ago  I  was  asked  to  prepare  a  paper  for  this  occa- 
sion on  the  subject  of  Bovine  Tuberculosis.  I  felt  that  it  was  ab- 
solutely impossible  for  me  to  do  that,  on  account  of  other  duties. 
Then  I  was  requested  to  discuss  that  paper,  or  such  a  paper.  I 
find,  however,  that  there  is  not  a  paper  on  that  subject.  Conse- 
quently, I  see  comparatively  little  for  me  to  discuss.  Had  it  not 
been  for  the  Chairman  so  kindly  alluding  to  this  subject,  there 
would  have  come  directly  before  this  meeting  nothing  on  which  I 
was  to  speak. 

I  feel,  however,  that  this  is  a  very  vital  question — the  production 
of  pure  milk,  and  no  one  who  has  a  family,  no  one  who  is  inter- 
ested in  the  welfare  of  our  citizenship  and  the  development  of  the 
nation  and  the  health  of  the  children,  which  is  the  basis  of  it  all, 
and  who  understands  or  knows  something  about  the  conditions  in 
this  country,  can  get  away  from  the  grave  difficulties  that  confront 
us  in  the  production  and  distribution  of  a  wholesome  safe  milk. 
I  do  not  feel  that  one  should  neglect  his  duty  if,  in  any  way,  he 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  35 

can  point  out  any  single  item  or  element  that  would  tend  to  in- 
crease the  efficiency  and  wholesomeness  of  this  universal  food  prod- 
uct, especially  for  children. 

I  feel,  too,  that  the  consumers  of  milk  and  the  producers  of  milk 
are  to  be  congratulated  upon  the  progress  that  has  been  made.  I 
feel  that  we  are  too  apt  to  deplore  the  weaknesses  that  we  see,  and 
not  give  encouragement  and  appreciative  expression  to  the  good 
that  has  been  done.  I  do  not  believe  that  more  progress  has  been 
made  in  the  production  and  distribution  of  any  food  product  in 
the  last  ten  years  than  has  been  made  in  connection  with  milk, 
when  you  take  into  account  the  great  difficulties  of  educating  the 
producers  to  produce  clean  milk,  and  of  educating  the  transporta- 
tion companies  in  means  of  transporting  it,  and  of  educating  the 
consumers  in  means  and  methods  of  caring  for  it  after  they  receive 
it.  When  you  take  this  thing  into  consideration,  the  magnitude  of 
the  undertaking  becomes  enormous. 

But  tremendous  progress  has  been  made,  and  I  feel  that  we 
should  be  congratulated  rather  than  that  a  pessimistic  attitude  on 
this  question  should  be  taken,  because  there  is  a  momentum  for  good 
in  the  work  that  is  being  done  throughout  the  length  and  breadth  of 
this  country. 

But  to  come  to  the  subject,  it  would  seem  that  if  care  is  taken 
in  the  production  and  in  the  handling  and  in  the  transportation  and 
in  the  care  of  milk,  the  other  and  most  vital  question  to  be  con- 
sidered is  the  health  of  the  cow  which  produces  it.  The  inspec- 
tions have  extended,  in  various  ways,  and  by  various  means.  The 
purposes  of  inspection  have  been  variously  interpreted.  But  we 
who  are  watching  the  situation  as  to  the  health  of  the  animals  are 
somewhat  depressed  to  read,  as  we  are  obliged  to  and  have  done 
within  the  last  few  months,  or,  at  least,  in  recent  times,  that  the 
results  of  investigations  have  shown  that  a  considerable  percentage 
of  tuberculosis  of  children  is  derived  from  the  bovine  type  of  ba- 
cilli, and  that  the  examinations  of  the  milk  in  our  large  cities  (there 
are  reports  of  such  examinations  and  investigations  in  nearly  every 
city),  show  that  tubercle  bacilli  are  quite  commonly  found  in 
market  milk.  We  have,  to  be  sure,  the  certified  milks  and  the 
guaranteed  milks,  with  which  all  the  precautions  are  taken  that  can 
be  taken,  even  including  very  delicate  and  sensitive  scientific  tests, 
but  for  the  great  mass  of  the  milk,  these  things  are  not  done.  In 
the  State  of  New  York,  I  doubt  if  more  than  two  per  cent,  of 
the  herds  have  been  tested,  and  are  under  careful  supervision,  so 
far  as  the  tuberculin  test  is  concerned.  Now,  that  being  the  case, 
and  on  account  of  the  almost  insurmountable  difficulties  of  bringing 
about  a  uniform  and  universal  tuberculin  test  and  the  exclusion  of 


36       CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

reacting  animals,  it  seems  to  me  that  we  will  have  to  meet  the  situa- 
tion as  best  we  can. 

A  year  ago  I  had  the  privilege  and  the  pleasure  of  spending 
some  time  in  Denmark  and  in  Germany,  in  studying  the  methods 
which  they  had  put  into  practice,  in  order  to  safeguard  the  con- 
sumers of  milk  from  tubercle  bacilli  coming  from  those  herds  which 
have  not  yet  been  under  the  tuberculin  test.  I  found  that  their 
method  was  to  make  frequent  and  rigid  physical  examinations.  We 
find,  for  example,  in  Copenhagen,  the  statement  that  they  have  the 
lowest  mortality  in  children,  and  the  Copenhagen  Milk  Supply 
Company  has  a  force  of  skilled  veterinarians  who  are  inspecting 
the  herds  from  which  they  receive  their  milk,  at  very  frequent  inter- 
vals. 

While  it  is  recognized  by  Prof.  Bang  and  Dr.  Osterbach  and  Dr. 
Bulls  and  others  who  have  learned  in  this  line  that  the  physical 
examination  will  detect  a  very  small  percentage  of  the  animals  that 
are  infected  with  tuberculosis,  yet  it  is  possible,  by  that  means  of 
detecting  it  and  by  acting  upon  this  detection  to  eliminate  the 
very  great  majority  of  those  cows  that  are  eliminating  tubercle 
bacilli  in  their  milk  or  with  their  feces. 

Consequently,  it  does  seem  to  me  that,  in  view  of  the  fact,  that 
children  are  contracting  tuberculosis  of  the  bovine  type,  and  that 
tubercle  bacilli  are  present  in  considerable  numbers  in  market  milk, 
our  inspection,  however  good  it  may  have  been  as  to  the  cleanli- 
ness of  the  stable,  circulation,  light  and  so  on,  has  been  somewhat 
derelict  in  the  elimination  of  the  spreaders  of  tubercle  bacilli. 

Prof.  Bang  said  to  me  last  summer,  "  You  people  in  America 
never  will  succeed  because  you  want  too  much  at  once.  You  want 
too  radical  measures;  you  are  not  willing  to  give  a  physical  exam- 
ination and  eliminate  the  spreaders,  and  gradually  work  back  with 
the  tuberculin  until  you  eliminate  the  disease  itself,  thereby  pro- 
curing constantly  increasing  safety  to  the  community  and  constantly 
increasing  benefit  to  the  owners  of  the  farms,  that  they  may  have 
sound  herds." 

Now,  it  does  seem  to  me  that  the  one  thing  that  is  lacking  in  the 
milk  production  of  this  country  is  the  physical  examination  in  our 
dairy  districts,  for  the  purpose  of  excluding  from  the  milk  supply 
those  animals  that  are  obviously  spreading  the  tubercle  bacilli. 
Now,  a  good  many  careful  investigations  have  been  made  in  this 
line.  We  have,  at  our  institution,  undertaken  some  investigations 
that  are  most  interesting  in  this  respect.  Similar  ones  have  been 
and  are  being  carried  out  in  Germany  and  elsewhere.  These  are 
for  the  purpose  of  finding,  as  nearly  as  we  can,  to  what  extent 
tubercle  bacilli  are  being  eliminated  by  animals  that  are  infected, 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  37 

as  determined  by  the  tuberculin  test,  but  which  appear  to  be  sound 
and  free  from  disease. 

Now,  it  has  been  our  experience,  in  the  examination  of  a  large 
number  of  animals — single  examinations — and  in  the  repeated  ex- 
aminations of  the  milk  and  feces  and  sputum  of  a  few  animals, 
that  the  number  of  animals  that  are  eliminating  tubercle  bacilli 
in  their  milk,  and  are  yet  free  from  evidence  or  symptoms  of  the 
disease  is  very  small  indeed. 

Now,  while  I  do  not  believe  that  the  physical  examinations  will 
eliminate  all  of  this  danger,  I  do  feel  that  we  have  sufficient  grounds 
to  warrant  the  statement  that  if  we  could  have  frequent  and  re- 
peated thorough  physical  examinations  by  skilled  veterinarians,  of 
the  cows  producing  the  milk  for  our  cities,  and  specious  animals 
were  eliminated  until  the  diagnosis  was  positively  made,  we  would 
minimize  the  amount  of  bovine  tuberculosis  that  exists  and  it  is  this 
one  point  that  I  wish  to  bring  to  your  consideration. 

As  to  the  question  of  other  diseases  of  cattle,  the  germs  of  which 
are  transmitted  in  the  milk,  they  are  practically  negligible. 
Anthrax  is  perhaps  the  only  one  that  we  have  seriously  to  con- 
sider, and  that  exists  in  such  a  small  number  of  places  and  to  such 
a  very  slight  extent  that  it  need  not  be  considered.  So  I  think, 
Mr.  Chairman,  that  if  we  can  take  into  account  the  serious  propo- 
sition of  providing  some  way  by  which  the  dairy  herds  can  be 
carefully  and  frequently  examined,  and  animals  in  which  evidence 
of  disease  can  be  detected  in  the  udders,  in  the  lungs  and  in  the 
intestines  and  the  uterus,  by  the  best  methods  that  we  have  at  the 
present  time,  and  those  animals  eliminated,  we  will  minimize  the 
danger,  and,  by  the  continuation  of  this  method,  we  will  continue 
to  have  constantly  better  milk. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  I  wish  we  had  time  to  have  another  hour  of 
that.  That  was  along  lines  that  we  need  to  know  about. 

We  have  in  the  room  (although,  being  old,  I  can't  locate  him) 
the  Commissioner  of  Agriculture  of  New  York  State.  If  more 
farmers  and  dairymen  had  a  chance  to  vote  for  him,  they  would 
make  him  Commissioner  of  Agriculture  for  the  next  twelve  years. 
We  want  him  to  come  forward  and  tell  us  something  about  milk 
in  New  York  State.  He  needs  no  introduction;  nobody  need  even 
mention  his  name.  Mr.  Pearson,  of  Albany. 

MR.  PEARSON  spoke  as  follows: 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  The  subject  that 
we  are  considering  is  one  of  tremendous  importance.  I  have  given 
a  large  part  of  my  life  to  the  study  of  it,  and  to-day  I  am  endeav- 


38       CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

oring,  as  best  I  can,  to  enforce  State  laws  which  relate  to  this  sub- 
ject. But  I  feel  that  I  know  very  little  about  it.  You  have  heard 
some  splendid  papers  upon  the  science  of  civic  milk  supply,  and 
the  philosophy  of  it  and  the  economy  of  it,  and  I  think  I  may  say 
the  religion  of  it;  and  still  much  more  might  be  said. 

Our  city  milk  supply  is  improving.  It  is  better  to-day  than  it 
has  ever  been  before,  and  there  are  a  number  of  forces  which  are 
bringing  about  these  improvements.  They  are  not  working  as  fast 
as  we  might  wish,  but  they  are  working  in  the  right  direction. 

First,  there  are  196,000  farmers  in  New  York  State  who  are 
producing  milk,  and  a  large  proportion  of  them  are  producing  it 
intelligently.  We  have  in  this  State  four  institutions  that  are 
maintained  by  the  State,  that  are  giving  instruction  to  large  classes 
of  young  men  to-day  on  this  very  subject  of  clean  milk  production, 
and  Dr.  Moore,  who  has  just  talked  to  you,  is  one  of  the  noted 
teachers  of  those  young  men.  At  this  very  minute  there  are,  in 
the  four  institutions  that  I  refer  to,  about  1500  young  men  study- 
ing agriculture,  and  a  large  number  of  them  are  studying  clean 
milk  production.  Fifteen  years  ago  there  were  less  than  one  hun- 
dred studying  those  subjects.  That  speaks  well  for  the  advance 
we  are  making.  Give  these  increased  numbers  of  young  men  a 
little  time  to  get  themselves  established,  and  we  shall  see  great 
results. 

We  have  to-day  more  discriminating  dealers  in  the  purchase  of 
milk  than  we  have  ever  had  before.  I  think  it  is  safe  to  say  that 
seventy-five  per  cent  of  the  milk  that  comes  into  New  York  City 
is  purchased  by  dealers  who  have  reasonably  good  standards  con- 
cerning the  quality  of  milk. 

We  have  far  greater  intelligence  to-day  on  the  part  of  the  milk 
consumer  than  we  have  ever  had  before. 

Then,  the  City  is  conducting  a  milk  inspection,  at  a  large  cost, 
and  I  must  say  that  they  are  doing  a  great  deal  of  good  to  New 
York.  I  can't  see  that  they  are  doing  good  to  the  other  cities  and 
villages  of  the  State,  because  I  often  receive  letters  from  health 
officers  in  the  smaller  cities  who  say  that  "dairyman  so-and-so  has 
had  his  milk  shut  out  of  the  New  York  market  because  it  does 
not  come  up  to  the  standard  of  that  city,  and  since  he  has  lost  that 
outlet,  he  has  begun  disposing  of  it  in  our  city  or  town,  where  we 
do  not  have  these  prohibitory  regulations,  and  we  wish  you  to  do 
what  you  can  to  help  us."  But  this  milk  inspection  is  a  great 
thing  for  New  York  City. 

Then,  we  have  a  State  law  relating  to  milk.  It  is  a  part  of  the 
agricultural  law,  and  it  makes  it  the  duty  of  the  Department  of 
Agriculture  to  look  to  its  enforcement.  Just  a  few  words  on  that 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  39 

law.  Three  days  ago,  in  the  Supreme  Court  here  in  New  York 
City,  a  milk  dealer  was  fined  because  he  had  sent  some  dirty  cans 
back  to  the  producer  in  the  country.  A  few  years  ago,  the  matter 
of  washing  cans  and  bottles  which  were  to  go  back  into  the  country 
cities  and  towns,  was  unthought  of.  I  myself  have  done  some  work 
in  those  country  institutions,  and  I  know  that  I  am  not  exagger- 
ating when  I  say  that  in  many  instances,  the  condition  of  the  cans 
going  back  to  these  institutions  a  few  years  ago,  was  simply  in- 
describable. Not  alone  rotten  milk,  but  every  rotten  thing  you 
could  possibly  think  of  (cries  of  "Amen!"  "That  is  right!"  etc.) 
found  its  way  into  those  cans.  The  Legislature  passed  a  law  re- 
quiring cans  and  bottles  to  be  cleaned,  and  we  are  doing  the  best 
we  can  to  enforce  that  law. 

About  a  month  ago,  I  had  two  of  our  detective  agents  who  are 
not  known  to  any  one  in  New  York,  slip  in  here  and  quietly  go 
the  rounds,  and  inside  of  four  or  five  days  they  had  made  thirty 
cases — which,  of  course,  is  a  very  small  number  when  you  con- 
sider the  large  number  of  dealers  working  here.  Three  days  ago 
the  first  one  was  tried  in  the  Supreme  Court  in  this  City,  as  I  said, 
and  the  defendant  was  fined,  and  how  much  do  you  think  he  was 
fined?  There  were  three  dirty  cans,  and  that  gentleman  walked 
up  and  paid  to  the  State  $50  a  can.  He  paid  $150.  As  soon  as  that 
verdict  was  announced,  the  others  couldn't  come  too  fast  to  the 
representative  of  the  Attorney  General  and  ask  on  what  basis  they 
could  settle.  One  of  those  gentlemen  to-day  is  worrying  under  the 
possibility  of  having  to  pay  a  fine  exceeding  $25,000. 

Now,  until  a  short  time  ago  our  efforts  concerning  the  milk  itself 
were  confined  to  the  detection  of  adulterations,  skimming  and 
watering,  and  we  are  doing  that  work  yet — a  great  deal  of  it. 
There  is  a  heavy  penalty.  There  is  never  a  time  when  we  have 
not  a  number  of  cases  pending  here  in  New  York  City — cases  of  the 
adulteration  of  milk. 

Besides  what  we  are  doing  of  course,  the  City  Health  Depart- 
ment is  doing  a  large  amount  of  the  same  kind  of  work. 

Last  winter,  on  the  recommendation  of  Gov.  Hughes,  the  Leg- 
islature enacted  an  amendment  to  the  Agricultural  Law,  which 
provided  that  the  Department  of  Agriculture  should  look  to  the 
sanitary  conditions  under  which  milk  was  produced  and  handled. 
That  had  not  been  a  distinctive  part  of  our  law  previously.  Since 
last  winter,  we  have  done  as  much  along  these  lines  as  our  funds 
would  permit.  We  have  not  been  able  to  increase  our  force,  but 
our  present  agents  have  been  instructed  to  give  attention  to  the 
sanitary  conditions  of  dairies,  wherever  they  can  do  so.  To-day,  we 
have  pending,  not  only  in  this  city  but  in  the  different  parts  of  the 


40       CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

State,  a  considerable  number  of  cases  against  dairymen  them- 
selves, and  against  dealers  whose  premises  are  kept  in  such  a 
manner  as  to  endanger  the  healthfulness  of  the  product  that  passes 
through  them- 

There  are  some  things  which  we  should  constantly  bear  in  mind 
in  connection  with  this  problem  of  better  city  milk  supply.  One  is 
that  the  inspection  will  always  be  necessary.  What  we  need  is 
intelligent,  healthful,  sympathetic  inspection.  We  need  inspectors 
who  are  willing  to  co-operate  with  the  dairymen,  and  not  the  one 
who  goes  in,  so  to  speak,  with  a  policeman's  club  and  demands  that 
this,  that  or  the  other  be  done,  and  at  once.  We  need  more  inspec- 
tion during  the  morning  hours  and  the  evening  hours,  when  the 
cows  are  in  the  stable,  and  less  inspection  during  the  noon  hour 
when  there  is  nothing  there  to  see.  And  I  am  well  satisfied  that 
such  a  system  of  inspection  could  very  easily  be  devised  in  this 
State. 

We  need  to  appreciate  that  the  price  of  milk  is  none  too  high. 
The  law  of  supply  and  demand  will  govern  our  milk  supply,  above 
all  other  laws.  When  conditions  are  revealed,  such  as  Mr.  Stadt- 
mueller  speaks  of  in  the  vicinity  of  Hartford,  where,  within  five 
miles  of  the  city  where  only  a  few  years  ago,  farm  after  farm 
had  many  cows  upon  it,  the  cows  are  gone  to-day  and  those  same 
people  are  doing  other  kinds  of  work,  it  means  just  as  much  to  you 
and  me  as  though  we  walked  down  Broadway  and  saw  nine-tenths 
of  our  shoe  stores  closed  up.  There  is  no  money  in  it,  and  the  peo- 
ple are  going  into  something  else.  That  should  be  the  best  proof 
that  any  reasonable  person  could  want  that  the  prices  received  by 
the  farmers  have  not  gone  beyond  the  proper  point.  We  in  the 
city  need  to  co-operate  more  with  the  dairymen  and  the  dealers, 
to  the  end  that  we  may  get  better  milk ;  and  some  excellent  ways  of 
co-operation  have  been  mentioned  here  this  afternoon. 

There  is  just  one  way  I  have  thought  of,  which  was  not  men- 
tioned, I  think,  and  I  will  refer  to  it.  Milk  should  not  be  de- 
livered at  the  time  of  the  day  or  night  that  is  most  inconvenient 
to  every  person  that  has  anything  to  do  with  it.  Why  is  it  that 
the  people  in  New  York  City,  who  are  so  vitally  interested  in  the 
question  of  getting  pure  milk,  demand  a  service  which  brings  it  to 
their  doors  at  two  or  three  or  four  o'clock  in  the  morning,  where  it 
is  left  to  stand  in  the  alleyway,  and  where  the  tops  of  the  bottles 
are  licked  by  the  cats  and  the  what  else  we  know  not,  and  where 
the  dishonest  scamp  can  come  along  and  take  off  the  top  of  that 
milk  if  he  wishes  to — or,  perhaps,  the  dishonest  milkman — and 
substitute  something  else  ?  Why  is  it  that  they  require  that  milk  to 
be  delivered  at  such  a  time,  when  they  could  get  the  same  bottle  of 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  41 

milk — not  a  different  bottle,  but  the  same  bottle  of  milk — twelve 
or  sixteen  or  twenty  hours  earlier,  in  daylight.  Why  is  it?  It  is 
because  these  miserable  little  series  of  connected  closets  that  they 
call  apartments  are  not  big  enough  to  hold  a  quart  of  milk  longer 
than  is  absolutely  necessary.  Now,  that  would  pay  the  people 
well.  They  would  get  more  out  of  it  than  it  costs  them  if  they 
would  provide  refrigerators,  and  provide  two  cents  more  worth  of 
ice,  if  necessary,  and  facilities  to  hold  that  milk  over  night,  or,  at 
least  arrange  to  receive  it  when  it  is  fresh. 

Now,  we  have  heard  a  most  excellent  series  of  statements  from 
various  speakers,  and  I  was  especially  interested  in  those  which 
were  numbered  and  given  by  Mr.  Stadtmueller.  Just  think  of  a 
man  like  that  being  the  health  officer  of  a  small  town!  I  wonder 
how  it  happened.  If  Mr.  Stadtmueller  ever  gets  tired  of  living 
in  Connecticut,  I  hope  he  will  migrate  to  New  York. 

I  was  delighted  with  these  common  sense  papers.  What  Mr. 
Stadtmueller  gave  us  was  almost  the  ideal,  and  that  is  what  we 
should  always  keep  in  mdnd  and  always  strive  for.  We  will  never 
accomplish  much  unless  we  have  an  ideal,  and  that  is  what  he  gave 
to  us.  But  I  want  to  say  that  I  can  give  you  an  additional  point 
which  possibly  may  appeal  to  you  as  being  of  a  little  more  im- 
mediate practicability,  although  I  would  not  discount  one  fraction 
of  one  per  cent  the  good  things  that  Mr.  Stadtmueller  has  said. 
Now,  here  is  a  question.  We  are  here  to  consider  how  we  can  get 
purer  milk  for  this  City.  Yonder  in  New  York  are  thousands  of 
"dairies  producing  milk,  and  there  is  an  enormous  stream  of  milk 
flowing  down  into  this  city  every  day.  Up  at  its  thousands  of 
sources,  much  of  the  milk  comes  out  pure,  high  grade,  clean  and 
desirable,  and  some  of  it  comes  out  impure  from  its  very  source,  low 
grade  and  undesirable.  Those  streams  of  milk  come  down  to  the 
city,  and  the  nearer  they  get  to  this  city,  the  more  they  intermingle. 
When  they  get  down  here,  so  far  as  the  consumer  is  concerned,  they 
are  pretty  much  all  alike.  Now,  you  live  in  New  York  City,  and 
you  want  clean  milk  and  you  do,  and  you  do,  and  you  do  and  I  as- 
sume that  you  are  willing  to  pay  a  fair  price  for  it,  though  I  don't 
believe  you  want  to  pay  any  more  than  you  have  to.  We  will  say 
that  Mr.  Francisco  lives  in  the  country  and  that  he  is  one  of  those 
who  is  producing  pure  milk.  Now,  what  is  the  use  of  talking  so 
much?  You  want  pure  milk,  and  you  want  it,  and  you  (indicat- 
ing Mr.  Francisco)  have  got  it.  Why  don't  you  fix  it  so  that  you 
can  get  his  milk,  or  that  you  can  get  pure  milk?  Now,  that  is  not 
theorizing  a  bit.  We  ought  to  have  it  provided  that  any  person  who 
wishes  to  sell  milk,  and  who  describes  that  milk  to  his  consumers 
as  being  pure — the  product  of  tuberculin  tested  cows,  cooled  to 


42       CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

forty-five  degrees,  in  the  market  within  thirty  hours  after  it  is 
milked,  and  clean  and  sanitary  all  the  way  along  down — we  ought 
to  have  it  provided  so  that  the  man  who  produces  that  kind  of  milk 
and  the  man  who  sells  that  kind  of  milk  will  be  protected  against 
the  scamp  who  produces  and  handles  those  fewer  number  of  streams 
of  dirty  milk,  and  brings  it  down  here  and  sells  it  to  you  with 
just  exactly  the  same  claims  for  cleanliness,  wholesomeness  and 
purity  that  the  other  man  is  justly  making.  Now,  I  do  not  make 
myself  clear,  because,  if  I  did,  you  would  be  enthusiastic  about  it. 

One  of  the  main  principles  underlying  the  Pure  Food  laws  of 
to-day  is  that  a  food  containing  a  certain  percentage  of  preserva- 
tives shall  not  be  excluded  from  the  market.  The  principle  is  not 
that  a  food  of  a  third  or  fourth  or  fifth  grade  shall  be  excluded  from 
the  market.  Those  are  not  the  advanced  principles  of  pure  food 
legislation.  The  advance  principles  to-day  are  these :  That  foods 
shall  be  true  to  their  representation ;  they  shall  be  true  to  label ; 
they  shall  be  true  to  the  claims  that  are  made  concerning  their 
purity.  Then  it  is  for  the  person  who  buys  to  decide  for  himself 
whether  he  wants  Prussic  acid  in  his  tomato  ketchup.  If  he  wants 
it,  he  can  have  it.  If  he  does  not  want  it,  he  will  not  be  deceived 
into  buying  it.  All  the  food  inspectors  do  is  to  come  along  and 
get  samples  of  the  foods  and  ascertain  whether  they  are  true  to 
label  or  not. 

Now,  if  that  is  true  as  to  impurities  in  tomato  ketchup  and 
olive  oil  and  coffee  and  spices  and  what  not,  why,  it  is  ten  times  as 
important  that  such  a  principle  should  be  carried  out  in  the  milk 
business.  I  believe  in  selling  milk  for  what  it  is,  and  in  letting  the 
dealer  and  the  buyer  both  know  what  it  is,  and  in  letting  the  public 
protect  itself  just  as  it  does  now  with  all  other  foods.  I  cannot  for 
the  life  of  me  see  why  milk  should  be  treated  differently  than  every 
other  kind  of  food. 

To  make  this  suggestion  a  little  more  concrete,  I  would  suggest, 
for  your  consideration,  that  legal  provision  should  be  made,  wher- 
ever you  see  fit,  so  as  to  enable  those  persons  who  are  selling  high 
grade  milk  and  so  advertising  it,  to  be  protected  against  those 
persons  who  are  selling  low  grade  milk  and  claiming  for  it  the 
highest  honors. 

In  a  city  not  far  from  us,  some  time  ago,  a  little  investigation 
was  made  and  inspectors  went  out  to  visit  the  premises  of  those 
dairymen  who  had  signs  on  their  wagons,  and  on  their  letter  heads, 
and  elsewhere,  to  the  effect  that  they  were  selling  inspected  or 
veterinary  inspected  milk — milk  from  healthy  herds,  and  so  on, — 
and  it  was  found  that  a  large  percentage  of  them  had  no  inspection, 
and  their  herds  were  no  more  healthy  than  the  herds  of  any  other 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  43 

persons.  Now,  a  condition  of  that  kind  leads  simply  to  confusion, 
and  that  is  the  condition  of  the  City  milk  business  to-day.  It  is  in 
a  condition  of  confusion. 

I  believe,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  that  that  is  one  of  the  most  im- 
portant means  of  solving  this  very  confused  question:  Simply  to 
require  those  persons  who  are  engaged  in  the  business  to  do  so  in- 
telligently and  honestly.  I  thank  you  for  your  attention. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  I  do  not  think  you  would  like  to  go  home  with 
out  hearing  just  one  of  our  elder  brothers  who  is  in  the  milk  busi- 
ness.    Oh,   Mr.    Campbell,   won't   you   come    forward    and   tell   us 
something  about  the   handling  of  milk?      (Mr.   Campbell  did  not 
come  forward.) 

This  has  been  a  delightful  afternoon,  almost  as  inspiring  as 
as  it  was  during  last  January,  when  I  had  the  opportunity,  in 
three  different  states,  to  look  into  the  faces  of  boys  who  were 
preparing  for  home  work.  Hardly  any  of  them  wanted  posi- 
tions. I  told  them  there  was  pretty  good  money  for  good  boys, 
but  nearly  every  one  of  them  told  me  that  he  was  going  home. 
Oh,  what  a  good  sign  that  is !  There  is  no  place  to-day  like  the 
farm,  where  brains  can  be  used  with  the  same  amount  of  energy 
as  they  are  using  them,  and  compelling  you  to  use  them,  if  you 
are  in  the  city;  and  no  greater  results  are  had  from  the  use  of 
brains  anywhere  than  on  the  farm.  Those  results  will  come  to 
us  through  the  milk,  and  the  conditions  that  will  make  our  farms 
look  as  if  we  were  proud  of  them. 

Now,  the  time  has  been  passing  pretty  rapidly,  and  we  have 
some  great  things  for  this  evening.  If  any  results  from  this  aft- 
ernoon session  have  been  found,  we  should  be  glad  to  have  them 
find  their  way  into  resolutions,  and  see  what  we  can  do  with  them. 
Dr.  Wile. 

DR.  IRA  S.  WILE:  Mr.  Chairman  and  Ladies  and  Gentlemen: 
As  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Resolutions,  I  wish  to  say  that 
there  are  two  resolutions  to  be  presented  at  this  meeting.  The 
first  resolution  is  as  follows: 

WHEREAS,  There  is  a  high  mortality  during  infancy,  owing  to 
impure  milk  supplies,  and 

WHEREAS,  Large  numbers  of  children  are  physically  and 
mentally  handicapped  and  unfitted  for  future  citizenship, 
through  mal-nutrition,  in  large  part  due  to  lack  of  milk  in  the 
dietary,  owing  to  the  cost  of  milk  to  the  families  of  the  poor, 
be  it 

""Resolved,   That   this   Conference   advise   a  general  investi- 


44       CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

gation  of  the  economics  of  milk  production,  milk  transpor- 
tation and  milk  distribution,  with  a  view  to  determining  the 
best  method  of  producing  a  sanitary  milk  supply,  within  the 
means  of  the  general  public." 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  You  have  heard  this  resolution.     I  know  you 

like  it.     What  is  your  pleasure? 

(The  adoption  of  the  resolution  was  duly  moved  and  seconded.) 
THE  CHAIRMAN:   Now,  we  cannot  give  you  much  time,  but  we 

would  be  delighted  to  have  a  few  speak  to  it  for  just  a  minute. 

We  will  give  you  that  opportunity  now.     If  not,  are  you  ready 

for  the  question? 

(The  motion  was  carried  and  the  resolution  adopted.) 

DR.   WILE:  Mr.   Chairman,  the   second  resolution,  and  the  last 

resolution,  that   has   been   presented   to  the   Committee,   reads,   as 

follows : 

"Resolved,  That  this  Conference  advises  the  promulga- 
tion of  laws  to  insure  the  proper  labeling  of  milk  packages." 

(On  motion,  duly  seconded,  the  resolution  was  adopted.) 

DR.  WILE:  Those  are  all  the  resolutions,  Mr.  Chairman. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  We  want  to  thank  you  for  so  many  coming 
here  this  afternoon  and  listening  to  these  stories.  They  are  good 
for  you,  and  we  hope  to  see  you  all  again  this  evening. 

Thereupon  an  adjournment  was  taken  until  8:15  o'clock  P.  M. 


SECOND    SESSION 

Friday  evening,  December  2,  8:15  o'clock. 
Prof.  WM.  T.  SEDGWICK  presiding. 

THE  PUBLIC  MILK  SUPPLIES   AND   THE 
PUBLIC  HEALTH 

DR.  IRA  S.  WILE,  Chairman  Conference  Committee,  spoke  as 
follows : 

Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  in  opening  the  second  session  of  this 
Conference,  held  under  the  auspices  of  the  New  York  Milk  Con*- 
mitee,  it  would  be  a  pure  waste  of  valuable  time  for  me  to  spend 
a  moment  in  introducing  the  presiding  officer,  who  is  probably 
far  better  known  here,  in  questions  that  pertain  both  to  sanity 
and  to  sanitation,  than  any  one  else  who  may  be  in  the  room. 
I  take  pleasure  in  introducing  the  presiding  officer  of  the  meet- 
ing, Prof.  Wiliam  T.  Sedgwick,  of  the  Massachusetts  Institute 
of  Technology. 

PROF.  SEDGWICK  spoke  as  follows: 

THE  MILK  PROBLEM  IN  AMERICA  TO-DAY 

LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN:  It  is  a  great  privilege  to  be  able 
to  attend  this  Conference,  and  especially  to  be  able  to  take  an 
active  part  in  it. 

The  whole  problem  of  milk  supply  to-day,  and  of  milk 
supplies  and  public  health,  is  so  important  and  so  extensive, 
covering  every  inch  of  the  country,  as  it  does,  that  this  Com- 
mittee, it  seems  to  me  ,  has  done  well  to  come  together  and  deal 
with  it. 

Now,  it  is  not  my  intention  to  make  any  lengthy  address, 
nor  is  it  my  desire  to  do  so.  The  principal  speakers  of  the 
evening  will  follow  me.  As  I  am  expected  to  say  something, 
and  in  order  that  I  may  save  time — yours  and  mine —  I  have 
committed  to  writing  what  I  should,  in  many  ways,  have  pre- 
ferred to  give  you  without  so  formal  a  statement. 

The  milk  problem  in  America  to-day  is  perhaps  the  tough- 
est of  all  our  pure  food  and  public  health  problems.     Water 
supply  problems,  ice  suplies,  oyster  supplies,  and  the  purity 
and  salubrity  of  ordinary  foods  such  as  meats,  fish,  flour,  pre- 
45 


46       CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

serves,  and  the  like,  compared  with  milk  supply,  are  easy  to 
deal  with. 

Doubtless  to  the  public  at  large  this  seems  surprising,  for 
like  the  cup  of  cold  water  which  is  a  symbol  of  disinterested 
charity,  the  glass  of  milk  has  long  been  regarded  as  the  whole- 
somest  of  foods  and  the  most  serviceable  of  drinks.  How 
then  does  it  happen  that  this  once  simplest  and  most  trusted 
of  all  the  foods  of  man  constitutes  so  difficult  a  problem  in 
modern  life?  The  answer  is  threefold: — first,  because  of  the 
growth  of  cities;  second,  because  of  the  rise  of  Bacteriology; 
and  third,  because  of  the  testimony  of  epidemics. 

The  growth  of  cities  has  separated  cows, — the  producers, 
from  mankind, — the  consumers,  and  the  rise  of  Sanitary  Sci- 
ence has  disclosed  unsuspected  dirt  and  dangers  in  milk, 
hitherto  veiled  and  hidden  by  its  whiteness.  Think  for  a  mo- 
ment of  the  ever  widening  distance,  as  cities  grow,  between  the 
cow  and  the  consumer ;  a  fact  bringing  in  its  train  a  long  chain 
of  undesirable  consequences,  such  as  these: — lack  of  acquaint- 
ance and  therefore  of  sympathetic  interest  between  original 
producers  and  ultimate  consumers ;  transportation  problems 
of  increasing  magnitude,  cost  and  complexity;  the  lapse  of 
time,  giving  opportunities  for  milk  to  grow  old  and  stale  and 
finally  to  spoil ;  manifold  handling  by  various  middlemen,  giv- 
ing opportunity  for  sophistication  and  adulteration; — any  or 
all  of  which  may  be  sufficient  to  bring  about  extensive  de- 
terioration in  the  quality  and  increase  in  cost. 

In  the  second  place,  while  human  experience  and  Chemistry 
long  since  proved  milk  one  of  the  most  decomposable  of  foods, 
the  newer  Science  of  Bacteriology  has  revealed  the  presence, 
previously  unsuspected  even  in  comparatively  clean  sweet 
milk,  of  vast  hordes  and  various  kinds  of  micro-organisms ; 
and  the  microscope  has  confirmed  the  frequent  testimony  of 
the  eye  and  the  nose  to  the  presence  in  market  milk  of 
visible  or  invisible  amounts  of  cow  dung  and  other  forms  of 
dirt. 

In  the  third  place,  the  testimony  of  epidemology  is  that 
hundreds  of  disastrous  epidemics  of  infectious  diseases,  especi- 
ally of  typhoid  fever  and  scarlet  fever,  have  proceeded  directly 
from  the  drinking  of  a  supposedly  fresh  and  pure  milk. 

I  need  not   elaborate  or  dwell  upon  these  now  wellknown 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE 


facts.  Let  me  rather  pass  on  to  a  protest 
mon  comparison  of  milk  supplies  with  water  supplies,  with 
its  misleading  corollaries,  and  a  plea  for  the  far  more  reason- 
able use  of  those  closer  analogies  which  exist  between  milk 
supply  and  the  supply  of  some  other  foods,  —  especially  oysters. 
Public  water  supplies  are  almost  invariably  derived  from  one 
or  a  few  large  gathering  grounds  which  are  comparatively  easy 
of  inspection  and  eventually  from  huge  reservoirs,  the  protec- 
tion of  the  purity  of  which  is  comparitively  easy.  From  these 
reservoirs  one  or  a  few  great  aqueducts,  the  safeguarding  of 
which  is  easy  enough,  convey  water  to  our  cities,  which  are  so 
served  by  branching  and  connecting  pipes,  all  leading  to  one 
source,  that  the  public  shares  in  common  a  really  common 
supply. 

But  with  milk  supplies  this  is  never  so.  The  gathering 
grounds  may  be  a  thousand  farms  upon  a  thousand  hills,  and, 
while  from  the  earth  water  may  flow  from  a  thousand  springs 
fed  from  the  skies,  farm  lands  flowing  with  milk  and  honey  are 
unknown  even  in  history,  except  among  the  hills  of  Palestine. 
In  the  next  place,  there  is  nowhere  any  one  great  reservoir  of 
milk  or  any  cluster  of  a  few  great  reservoirs.  There  is  no 
great  artery  or  any  small  number  of  great  arteries  bearing 
milk  from  such  reservoirs  to  our  cities,  and  finally  there  is  no 
single  common  and  branching  stream  carrying  through  pipes 
of  various  size  milk,  as  such  pipes  carry  water  to  the  ultimate 
consumers.  On  the  contrary,  from  a  thousand  or  ten  thou- 
sand remote  and  distant  farms  a  few  gallons,  more  or  less,  of 
milk  are  first  drawn  from  the  teats  of  a  domesticated  wild 
animal,  often  by  hands  far  from  clean  and  under  sanitary  con- 
ditions leaving  almost  everything  to  be  desired.  These  rela- 
tively small  quantities  of  milk  are  then  for  the  most  part 
separately  transported  from  the  farm  to  the  railway,  and  by 
the  railway  to  the  city.  Here  sometimes  united  but  more 
often  kept  apart,  after  various  treatments  at  the  hands  of 
middlemen,  they  are  eventually  distributed  to  the  doorsteps  of 
houses,  institutions,  stores,  and  other  establishments  in  which 
further  time  elapses,  giving  opportunities  for  further  changes 
to  take  place,  until  at  last  the  milk,  or  much  of  it,  is  swallowed 
raw,  and  more  or  less  stale  and  decomposed,  if  not  dirty  or 
diseased,  by  the  ultimate  consumer,  perhaps  a  helpless  infant. 


48       CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

Here  is  no  useful  analogy  with  a  water  supply,  but  if  we 
need  any  helpful  analogy,  we  can  find  it  in  our  system  of  pub- 
lic oyster  supply.  Oysters  are  produced  upon  hundreds  if- 
not  thousands  of  areas  which  are  practically  submarine  farms : 
from  these  gathering  grounds  they  are  taken  by  oystermen  un- 
familiar with  the  first  principles  of  cleanliness ;  by  them  or 
others  like  them  they  are  perhaps  opened  and  thrown  to- 
gether into  small  receptacles.  They  are  not  united  into  one 
great  reservoir  but  transported  separately,  very  much  as  milk 
is  transported,  upon  railways  and  steamboats.  Various 
middlemen  have  access  to  them  during  transportation  and  in 
the  city  they  are  finally  distributed  to  houses,  institutions, 
markets  and  similar  places  where,  once  more  subjected  to 
delay  and  handling,  they  finally  pass  on  to  the  ultimate  con- 
sumer, who  oftentimes  devours  them  raw.  Precisely  as  milk 
upon  the  farms  is  often  exposed  to  gross  pollution,  so  also 
oysters  drawn  from  farms  beneath  the  sea  may  become  con- 
taminated by  sewage. 

I  honestly  believe  that  the  use  of  the  analogy  of  oyster 
supply  rather  than  water  supply  will  tend  materially  to 
sounder  instruction  of  the  people  in  the  difficulties  and  dan- 
gers connected  with  the  milk  problem  in  America  to-day.  The 
present  is  no  time  for  haste  or  for  impatience.  The  farmer 
who  is  producing  milk  is,  as  a  rule,  engaged  in  what  is  still 
a  primitive  if  not  an  uncivilized  industry ;  he  is  confronted 
by  increasing  costs  of  labor,  of  fodder,  of  family  life  and  of 
taxation,  and  as  if  these  were  not  enough,  he  is  informed  that 
milk  which  he  always  supposed  to  be  the  safest  as  well  as  the 
simplest  and  best  of  foods,  is,  unless  he  is  extremely  careful, 
liable  to  endanger  the  public  health.  The  railroads  and  other 
common  carriers  of  milk  must  have  their  proper  rewards  for 
its  careful  transportation.  Often  the  milk  must  be  refriger- 
ated and  finally  the  costs  of  distribution  must  be  superadded 
to  those  which  have  alreay  accumulated. 

Meantime  the  milk  is  in  danger  of  becoming  sour  or  stale 
and  the  ultimate  consumer  naturally  enough  complains  both 
of  cost  and  quality.  Boards  of  Health  and  physicians  enter 
their  objections  and  their  pleas  for  improvement,  and  the  pub- 
lic resists  any  considerable  rise  of  prices.  So  that  with  all 
these  and  many  other  conflicting  elements  at  work  the  milk 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  49 

problem  in  America  to-day  is  one  of  the  most  tangled  and  one 
of  the  toughest  and  one  of  the  most  difficult  to  solve  of  any 
which  confronts  the  public. 

But  while  we  wait  more  or  less  patiently  for  the  solution 
which  we  believe  must  eventually  come,  there  is  one  and  only 
one  complete  safeguard  against  any  infections  which  may 
hide  themselves  behind  the  veil  of  whiteness,  and  hence  of  in- 
nocence, worn  by  milk.  That  remedy  is  extremely  simple,  be- 
ing the  same  which  we  apply  to  suspected  water  or  oysters  or 
meats,  namely,  ordinary  cooking.  Cooked  milk  may  not  al- 
ways be  palatable  or  in  all  cases  digestible  but  it  is  always  safe 
so  far  as  infectious  disease  is  concerned;  while  raw  milk  may 
be  most  unsafe.  Whether  cooking  shall  take  the  form  of 
brief  scalding  or  more  prolonged  boiling  or  that  par-boiling, 
which  we  have  come  to  know  as  pasteurizing,  makes,  so  far 
as  safety  goes,  but  little  difference.  We  must  of  course  have 
inspection,  all  we  can  get  of  it,  beginning  with  the  examina- 
tion of  the  cow  and  extending  into  the  consumer's  kitchen  and 
refrigerator;  but  we  must  not  delude  ourselves  by  the  belief 
that  any  system  of  inspection,  however  intelligent  or  com- 
plete, can  ever  give  us  perfect  protection  against  disease  con- 
veyed by  milk,  or  can  ever  equal,  as  a  sanitary  safeguard, 
simple  cooking. 

The  milk  situation  in  America  at  present  is  more  acute 
than  ever  before  and  is  everywhere  hedged  about  by  difficul- 
ties which  cannot  be  removed  either  to-day  or  to-morrow. 
But  they  can  be  diagnosed  and  studied  in  conferences  like  this 
and  by  and  by  they  may  be  overcome. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  Now,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  if  there  is  any 
one  man  in  the  United  States  who  has  been  more  active  than  any 
other  as  a  public  health  official,  in  stirring  up  the  community  in 
which  he  lives  and  in  standing  for  good  work  along  health  lines, 
that  man  is  Dr.  Evans,  Commissioner  of  Health  of  the  City  of 
Chicago,  who  needs  no  introduction  to  this  or  any  other  audi- 
ence in  America. 

Da.  EVANS  spoke  as  follows: 

THE  RELATION  OF  THE  PURITY  OF  MILK 
PRODUCTS  TO  THE  PUBLIC  HEALTH 

MR.  CHAIRMAN,  AND  LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN  :  As  I  look 
over  this  program,  and  also  as  I  look  out  over  this  audience, 


50       CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

I  find  it  difficult  to  decide  just  what  phase  of  the  subject  that 
has  been  assigned  to  me,  I  shall  occupy  your  time  with.  The 
subject  that  has  been  assigned  to  mie  is  "The  Relation  of  the 
Purity  of  Milk  Products  to  the  Public  Health,"  and  that,  of 
course,  comprehends  the  situation  in  its  entirety.  I  could 
not  very  well  speak  to  that  subject  without,  in  some  measure, 
covering  the  subject  that  appears  next  on  the  program,  namely 
"The  Bearing  of  Communicable  Diseases  on  the  Control  of 
Public  Milk  Supplies,"  or  the  next,  "Bacterial  Contamination 
of  Milk  as  a  Cause  of  Disease,"  or  going  into  the  program  of 
the  morrow,  "The  Sanitary  Side  of  the  Milk  Question,"  or 
"The  Present  System  of  Milk  Control,"  and  certainly  not 
without,  in  part,  at  any  rate,  touching  upon  the  side  that  is  to 
be  covered  by  Dr.  Magruder,  namely,  "The  Necessity  of  a 
Congress  for  the  Improvement  of  the  National  Milk  Supply." 

It  is  rather  peculiar  to  my  mind  that  that  great  man,  that 
great,  forceful  personality,  Theodore  Roosevelt,  should  have 
become  interested,  and  so  deeply  interested,  in  a  good  meat 
supply,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  meat  is  of  relatively  so  small 
importance  as  compared  with  the  question  of  a  good  milk 
supply. 

As  I  look  over  this  audience,  as  I  have  just  said,  I  am  con- 
fronted with  a  further  perpexity.  I  am  not  quite  convinced 
as  to  what  particular  phase  of  the  subject  I  should  touch 
upon  or  what  particular  line  I  should  occupy  your  time  with. 
It  occurs  to  me  that  I  might,  for  a  while,  dwell  upon  the 
things  that  are  responsible  for  the  harm  that  is  done  by  milk 
when  it  is  bad,  and  then,  having  briefly  spoken  upon  that  phase 
of  the  subject,  I  might  offer  you  my  opinion  as  to  what  is  the 
solution  of  the  milk  problem  in  cities  in  this  country. 

In  my  judgment,  milk  is  the  second  of  the  most  important 
causes  of  death.  It  ranks  second  to  air  as  a  great  causer  of 
disease  and  of  death  amongst  our  people.  There  are  other 
agencies  that  are  of  consequence  and  that  are  worthy  of  con- 
sideration, but  they  are  not  of  greater  importance  than  is  bad 
milk  in  the  production  of  disease. 

The  harm,  arising  from  bad  milk,  is  done  in  several  ways. 
In  my  judgment,  much  the  most  important  part  of  the  agen- 
cies that  are  responsible  for  the  harm  that  comes  from  milk 
are  those  agencies  that  are  to  be  found  in  milk  by  reason  of 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  51 

its  spoiling.  It  is  dirty  milk,  which  is  old  and  which  has  been 
kept  warm,  and  which,  by  reason  of  these  experiences,  is 
harmful,  that  constitutes  the  most  important  grouping  of  the 
harmful  effects  of  milk.  We  hear  much  of  the  harm  that  is 
done  by  tuberculosis  in  cows,  and  much  of  the  harm  that  is 
done  by  milk  as  a  conveyor  of  typhoid  and  other  diseases  that 
are  contagious,  but,  in  my  judgment,  bad  milk  is,  far  and 
away,  more  important,  from  the  standpoint  of  the  harm  that  it 
does,  through  being  dirty  or  through  having  been  unduly 
warmed,  or  being  unduly  old,  and  having,  by  reason  of  these 
experiences,  spoiled.  This  is  the  great,  important,  and  over- 
shadowing way  in  which  milk  is  harmful  to  humankind. 

Next  in  importance,  in  my  judgment,  comes  the  spreading 
of  typhoid  fever  through  milk.  When  a  community  has 
reached  a  typhoid  rate  of  about  twelve,  as  my  community  has 
now,  and  has  maintained,  for  several  years  past,  it  is  probable, 
in  my  judgment,  that  the  major  part  of  that  typhoid  fever  is 
being  spread  through  milk. 

Tuberculosis,  in  this  category  of  diseases  that  are  caused 
by  harmful  milk,  comes  third. 

Fourth  would  come  scarlet  fever.  The  epidemics  of  scarlet 
fever  that  are  milk-borne  are  striking  in  their  characteristics, 
but  they  are  comparatively  infrequent  as  compared  with  the 
manifestations  or  the  spreading  of  typhoid  fever  through 
milk. 

Diphtheria  is  of  less  consequence  than  typhoid  fever,  and 
there  are  other  things  caused  by  milk  that  are  of  less  conse- 
quence still. 

Those  of  us  who  are  engaged  in  the  control  of  the  milk 
supplies  of  large  cities  often  grow  impatient  at  the  point  of 
view  and  the  decisions  of  those  who  are  arriving  at  decisions 
as  the  result  of  experiences  that  are  comparatively  limited, 
and  as  the  result  of  experiences  which  have  not  qualified  them 
for  judicial  determination  as  to  questions  that  we  are  settling. 

Communities,  from  the  standpoint  of  milk  control,  fall  into 
three  groups.  First  is  the  group  in  which  is  found  cities 
where  the  milk  in  the  main  is  produced  and  consumed  on  the 
same  premises.  The  methods  of  controlling  the  milk  supply 
there,  inasmuch  as  they  exist  where  that  milk  is  consumed, 
without  transportation,  without  the  intervention  of  other 


52       CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

agencies  of  time  or  place  or  circumstance,  do  not  illumine, 
in  great  measure,  as  to  the  necessities  that  exist  in  cities  where 
there  is  a  railroad  haul. 

The  second  group  of  cities  is  that  group  in  which  there  is  a 
wagon  haul,  the  group  of  cities  in  which  the  milk  is  produced 
so  close  to  the  city  that,  when  comparatively  fresh,  it  can  be 
loaded  into  wagons  and  can  be,  within  an  hour  or  two,  at  the 
home  of  the  consumer.  There,  too,  there  has  intervened  so 
little  of  time  and  so  little  of  foreign  circumstance  or  incident, 
that  there  is  not  the  necessity  for  the  same  provisions  of  con- 
trol, for  the  same  points  of  view,  for  the  same  masterly  ac- 
tivity, that  is  necessary  where  there  exists  a  railroad  haul. 

There  is  a  legend  in  law  that  time  is  the  essence  of  the  con- 
tract, and  while  this  is  true  of  certain  legal  transactions,  there 
is  no  legal  transaction  of  which  it  is  anywhere  near  so  true 
as  it  is  of  milk.  In  the  milk  question,  time  is  the  essence  of 
the  contract,  and  for  every  moment  of  time  that  has  inter- 
posed between  the  milking  of  the  cow  and  the  consumption  of 
the  milk  by  the  consumer,  and  for  every  interposition  in  the 
handling,  the  carrying,  the  warmth  and  every  other  detail 
that  influences  that  milk,  there  is  brought  into  play  the  neces- 
sity for  additional  precautions  for  control.  I  am  sure  that 
those  who  make  up  so  large  a  part  of  this  audience,  namely, 
the  administrators,  have  been  constantly  brought  face  to  face 
with  the  point  of  view  of  the  farmer  who  says,  "This  milk  has 
been  consumed  by  my  children,  and  they  have  grown  up  well 
and  strong,  and  I  argue  from  that  that  it  cannot  be  harmful 
for  the  children  of  the  city."  That  farmer  forgets  that  the 
milk,  as  he  consumes  it,  or  as  it  is  consumed  by  his  child,  was 
but  two  or  three  or,  at  most,  six  or  eight  hours  old ;  that  the 
foreign  bodies  that  were  there  and  the  bacteria  that  were 
there,  did  not  have  much  of  opportunity  for  the  development 
of  their  baneful  influences ;  but  that  that  is  not  the  condition 
of  affairs  that  prevails  when  that  milk  has  been  hauled  sev- 
eral miles  in  a  wagon,  has  been  delivered  to  a  railroad  plat- 
form, has  been  loaded  up  on  trains,  and  hauled  a  few  hundred 
miles  into  the  city,  where,  again,  it  has  been  loaded  upon  a 
wagon  and  hauled  a  few  miles  to  a  depot,  and  then  again  upon 
a  wagon  and  hauled  a  few  miles  through  the  city  streets  and 
delivered  at  a  doorstep,  where  it  has  remained  exposed  to  the 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  53 

weather  for  an  hour  or  more  and  has  then  been  taken  into  the 
inside  of  the  home  and  has  stood  there  for  several  hours  that 
intervened  between  that  time  and  the  time  of  its  consumption. 
That  milk  is  not  milk  four  hours  old;  that  milk  is  from  sev- 
enty-two to  ninety-six  hours  old.  But  that  is  not  the  sole  ex- 
pression of  the  differences  between  those  two  milks.  Many 
things  do  happen  and  will  happen  in  milk  during  those  inter- 
vening hours. 

Then,  there  is  the  additional  thing  that  the  farmer  loses 
sight  of,  that  his  child  that  drinks,  with  impunity,  the  milk 
that  is  not  clean,  that  is  not  as  clean  as  it  should  be,  is  in 
some  measure  harmed  thereby,  but  that  harm  is  compensated 
for  by  the  opportunities  that  his  child  has  to  play  in  the  open 
air,  by  the  sunlight  that  is  there,  and  by  the  grass  and  the 
flowers  that  are  there.  There  must  be  a  different  standard  of 
milk  for  the  child  that  does  not  have  sunlight  and  air  and 
grass  and  flowers  and  opportunities — a  standard  different 
from  the  standard  that  there  must  be  for  the  child  who  plays 
in  the  sunshine  and  the  air  and  amongst  the  flowers  and  the 
grass. 

In  view  of  the  fact  that  this  milk  is  older  and  that  it  has  had 
many  experiences  that  have  come  into  its  life,  if  we  might  so 
term  it,  that  do  not  and  have  not  come  into  the  life  of  milk  in 
these  other  communities,  there  are  necessities  for  standards 
and  there  are  necessities  for  observances  that  the  farmer  can- 
not well  understand,  and  that  the  health  officer  of  a  small  town, 
even,  cannot  fully  comprehend.  There  are  three  groups  of 
precautions  that  are  necessary  for  the  protection  of  the  milk 
for  the  people  of  a  large  city.  The  first  of  these  is  that  the 
milk  should  be  clean,  that  it  should  be  fresh  and  that  it  should 
be  cold.  The  second  is  that  it  should  be  free  from  contagion, 
and  the  third  is  that  it  should  not  be  a  conveyor  of  tubercu- 
losis from  the  cow  or  from  the  milker  or  other  attendant,  to 
the  people  in  the  city. 

There  is  one  of  these  methods  or  efforts  at  control  that 
evokes  great  opposition,  and  that  is  the  effort  to  control  tu- 
berculosis. A  considerable  part  of  those  who  are  engaged  in 
the  management  of  milk  supplies  are  of  the  opinion  that  it  is 
the  most  difficult  part  of  the  milk  problem  to  control.  In  my 
judgment,  it  is  not.  In  my  judgment,  it  is  to  be  no  more  dif- 


54       CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

ficult  to  eradicate  tuberculosis  from  the  herds  than  it  is  to 
prevent  the  spread  of  contagion  by  milk,  or  to  get  clean,  fresh 
and  cold  milk  for  the  children  in  our  cities.  There  is  as  much 
opposition  on  the  part  of  the  farmer,  however  much  may  be 
said  to  the  contrary,  to  an  inspection  and  a  correction  of 
those  difficulties  that  lie  along  the  lines  of  the  preservation  of 
the  milk  from  contamination  with  stable  manure  or  other 
forms  of  dirt,  as  there  is  in  other  lines. 

I  remember  well  going  to  a  milk  farm  once  where  they  had 
spent  several  thousand  dollars  in  building  barns  that  con- 
formed to  sanitary  requirements.  There  were  floors  that  were 
impervious ;  there  were  walls  that  were  whitewashed ;  the  yard 
was  clean  and  the  cows  were  clean,  and  there  was  a  good  milk 
house.  But  the  elemental  and  fundamental  things  had  not 
been  attended  to,  for  those  milkers  were  milking  with  hands 
that  were  dirty.  At  least,  the  backs  of  their  hands  were 
dirty.  The  palms  of  their  hands  were  beautifully  clean,  be- 
cause the  dirt,  in  the  main,  had  gone  into  the  milk.  Then,  as 
they  moved  from  cow  to  cow  and  lifted  up  their  three-legged 
milk  stools,  they  grabbed  them  by  the  legs,  where  there  was 
dry  manure  and  milk.  I  scraped  off  four  ounces  of  dirt  from 
those  legs.  Now,  there  was  a  man  who  had  been  persuaded 
to  spend  several  thousand  dollars  for  a  good  and  sanitary 
barn,  but  who  told  me  that  in  his  eighteen  years'  experience 
as  a  milker,  he  had  never  washed  his  hands  preliminary  to 
milking. 

We  are  now  conducting  dirt  tests  on  the  milk  supply  of  the 
City  of  Chicago,  and  it  is  rare  that  we  do  not  find  a  demon- 
strable amount  of  dirt  in  a  pint  bottle  of  milk,  and  in  my 
experience,  it  is  going  to  be  just  as  difficult  to  get  a  proper 
standard  of  cleanliness  in  milk — I  mean,  now,  infant  milk — 
as  it  is  to  get  it  free  from  tubercle  bacilli. 

When  we  come  to  the  question  of  getting  the  milk  fresh, 
there  is  an  additional  difficulty  of  great  moment. 

The  next  thing  is  the  protection  of  the  milk  supply  against 
milk-borne  contagion.  How  is  the  milk  to  be  protected 
against  contagion  which  can  be  spread  by  milk?  I  know  that 
in  the  State  of  Illinois — and  I  rather  believe  in  the  State  of 
New  York — the  reporting  of  contagion  and  the  supervision 
of  contagion  in  the  country  places,  and  probably  also  in  the 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  55 

cities,  is  not  such  that  the  milk  supply  can  be  protected,  and 
properly  protected,  against  the  typhoid  fever  and  scarlet 
fever  and  diphtheria.  I  do  not  see  that,  even  so  far  as  de- 
veloped cases  of  these  diseases  are  concerned,  a  proper  pro- 
tection against  them  is  within  the  immediate  view  of  the  fu- 
ture, and,  of  course,  the  possibility  of  protection  against  car- 
rier cases  is  much  more  difficult  and  more  nearly  unattain- 
able. 

The  problem  of  tuberculosis,  I  believe,  we  need  not  dwell 
upon  at  any  considerable  length,  and  yet  we  are  disposed  to 
lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  in  this  also  there  are  two  factors. 
In  the  first  place,  there  is  the  tuberculous  cow.  In  the  second 
place,  there  is  the  method  of  ventilation  of  the  barn,  without 
proper  attention  to  which  we  will  not  accomplish  much  by  tak- 
ing proper  precautions  against  the  tuberculous  cow.  So,  you 
see,  there  are  great  difficulties  in  the  way  of  a  solution  of  the 
milk  problem.  In  those  cities  where  the  milk  producer  and 
the  milk  consumer  are  so  far  removed,  each  from  the  other,, 
that  neither  comes  well  under  the  view  of  the  other,  there  are 
great  difficulties. 

As  I  sat  here  this  afternoon  and  listened  to  the  very  il- 
luminating addresses  that  were  given,  and  as  I  listened  partic- 
ularly to  the  speech  that  was  made  by  Mr.  Stadtmueller,  it 
seemed  to  me  that  one  of  the  elemental  difficulties  lay  in  this: 
The  farmer  has  a  point  of  view  to  which  he  closely  adheres ; 
namely,  that  he  is  engaged  in  a  business  proposition,  that  he 
is  producing  milk,  and  that  he  has  in  mind  the  financial  side  of 
that  proposition.  On  the  other  hand,  there  is  the  point  of 
view  of  the  consumer,  who  sees,  who  knows,  and  who  is  fully 
convinced  that  considerable  harm  is  being  done  in  the  cities 
through  milk  that  is  improperly  and  imperfectly  controlled. 
It  is  difficult  for  each  of  these  groups  of  people  to  understand 
the  point  of  view  of  the  other  group.  Neither  of  them  can 
thoroughly  see  just  the  way  the  proposition  presents  itself, 
however  anxious  they  may  be  to  see  it.  In  my  opinion,  this 
is  the  thing  for  which  we  should  work,  in  the  ultimate.  I  be- 
lieve that  this  thing  of  the  production  of  milk  should  proceed 
along  the  lines  of  community  development  that  are  manifest- 
ing themselves  in  everything  else,  and  that  there  must  be 
greater  specialization.  I  believe  that  we  must  have  baby 


56       CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

milk  as  well  as  a  general  milk.  So  far  as  a  general  milk  sup- 
ply is  concerned,  it  will  not  be  difficult  to  throw  around  it  such 
precautions  as  are  necessary  to  insure  a  reasonable  degree  of 
safety  for  that.  But  in  the  production  of  baby  milk,  we  must 
proceed  along  another  line.  The  producer  of  baby  milk  must 
be  a  specialist.  We  cannot  have  a  man  who  is  making  milk 
in  order  to  use  economically  the  hay  that  is  made  on  his  farm, 
or  one  who  produces  milk  as  a  secondary  proposition  in  the 
operations  of  his  farm,  engaged  in  the  production  of  baby 
milk.  That  cannot  be  made  secondary  to  the  making  of 
manure  for  the  purpose  of  fertilizing  that  farm  and  to  the 
economical  consumption  of  oats,  corn  and  hay  that  are  made 
on  that  farm.  That  baby  milk  is  of  such  importance  that  it 
must  be  made  by  people  who  are  engaged  in  the  making  of 
milk  as  a  primary  proposition,  and  the  consumption  of  hay  or 
oats  or  corn,  or  the  making  of  manure  and  other  fertilizers, 
must,  on  those  farms  at  least,  become  a  secondary  considera- 
tion. 

Having  established  a  grade  of  baby  milk,  it  must  be  made 
legally  obligatory  that  that  milk,  and  that  milk  alone,  shall 
be  used  in  the  feeding  of  children,  where  artificial  feeding  is 
necessary  and  where  cow's  milk  is  the  method  of  feeding  those 
babies.  It  must  be  made  a  violation  of  law  to  feed  babies 
with  other  cow's  milk  than  this  quality  or  grade  of  milk  that 
is  known  as  "baby  milk." 

Now,  how  is  that  to  be  produced?  In  my  judgment,  the 
ultimate  thing  is  that  we  shall  bring  the  baby  and  the  cow 
back  together  again.  The  ideal  thing  is  to  put  the  baby  at  the 
teat  of  the  cow,  and  everything  that  you  cause  to  intervene 
between  that  baby  and  that  teat  means  dead  babies,  when  you 
consider  babies  by  the  hundreds  and  the  thousands.  The  best 
way  and,  in  fact,  the  only  feasible  way  that  I  see  for  getting 
milk  that  is  fresh — getting  milk  that  is  less  than  twelve  hours, 
or,  better  still,  less  than  six  hours  old — is  to  bring  the  cow 
back  into  the  town. 

I  do  not  mean  that  you  shall  judge  the  possibilities  of  this 
proposition  by  that  which  you  remember  as  the  hygienic  con- 
ditions under  which  cows  have  been  kept  in  the  towns  with 
which  you  have  been  acquainted.  To  illustrate  this  proposi- 
tion to  you:  In  the  City  of  Chicago,  there  are  77,482  horses 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  57 

that  are  used  for  commercial  purposes.  There  are  4800 
horses  in  the  first  ward  of  the  City  of  Chicago  alone.  8000 
cows  in  the  City  of  Chicago  would  furnish  milk  for  every  cow's 
milk  drinking  baby  in  that  City,  and  if  we  will  put  up  with  the 
nuisance  of  77,000  horses  for  the  purposes  of  trade,  why  won't 
we  put  up  with  the  nuisance  of  8000  cows  for  the  purpose  of 
good  baby  milk?  You  may  have  an  idea  that  a  cow  stable  is 
more  offensive  than  a  horse  stable,  and  it  is,  or  rather,  it  can 
be  somewhat  more  offensive  than  a  horse  stable.  But  did  you 
ever  go  into  Mr.  Francisco's  barn?  If  you  ever  did,  I  war- 
rant you  that  you  have  never  seen  a  horse  barn  in  your  life 
that  was  so  inoffensive  as  Mr.  Francisco's  barn,  or  as  any 
cow  barn  can  be  maintained.  I  therefore  can  see  no  reason 
why  cows  could  not  be  kept  in  the  City  of  New  York  or  in  the 
City  of  Chicago,  producing  good  milk,  fresh  and  clean,  from 
tuberculin  tested  cows  that  are  healthy,  and  that  are  milked 
by  milkers  that  are  so  closely  under  observation  that  there  is 
no  possibility  for  the  development  of  contagion  among  them, 
and,  in  that  way,  getting  the  milk  from  the  cow  to  the  baby, 
and  consumed  by  the  baby,  when  the  milk  is  less  than  twelve 
hours  old.  I  believe  that  thoroughly  clean  milk,  less  than 
twelve  hours  old  would  be,  if  kept  properly  cool,  better  than 
the  best  milk  that  has  ever  been  produced  by  anybody  after 
that  milk  gets  to  be  three  or  four  or  five  days  old. 

If  there  are  considerations  of  land  value  to  make  it  difficult 
to  solve  that  problem  in  this  way,  then  it  may  be  possible,  in 
an  island  such  as  this — a  necessity  that  would  not  exist  in  the 
City  of  Chicago,  where  there  is  more  unoccupied  land — that 
you  should  establish  milk  producing  stables  at  the  periphery 
of  your  city,  where  land  values  are  not  so  high,  and  then,  if 
you  will  bring  that  milk,  young,  fresh,  cold,  into  the  city,  not 
by  your  present  system  of  railroad  haul — for,  in  my  judgment, 
the  present  system  of  railroad  haul  is  not  suited  for  city  trans- 
portation— you  will  have  milk  that  is  fit  for  babies.  The  large 
freight  unit  that  steam  railroads  now  operate  under  is  not 
fitted  for  the  transportation  of  goods  in  the  vicinity  of  cities, 
from  one  point  within  a  city  to  another  point  within  a  city. 
The  proposition  is,  that  with  an  electric  railway  haul,  you  can 
load  milk  cars  with  your  milk,  immediately  upon  its  produc- 
tion, and  then  use  your  street  car  lines  to  rapidly  distribute  it 


58       CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

to  points  of  distribution  situated  particularly  in  those  parts 
of  the  city  where  it  is  most  needed.  Is  this  not  possible  from 
the  economic  standpoint  ?  Probably  it  would  cost  about  three- 
quarters  of  a  cent  more  to  produce  milk  in  the  city  than  it 
would  in  the  country ;  that  is  about  the  way  it  has  figured 
out. 

Did  you  know  that  a  considerable  part  of  the  feed  that  you 
now  give  to  your  cows  on  your  milk  farms  in  the  country  is 
handled  in  the  city  and  shipped  from  the  cities  out  to  the 
country  again?  It  is  a  question  as  to  how  much  of  the  feed 
could  be  produced  and  is  produced  on  the  farm,  offset  by  the 
saving  on  that  part  of  the  cow  feed  that  would  come  from 
consuming  it  in  the  city  rather  than  shipping  it  out  into  the 
country  districts.  And  as  an  offset  to  that  three-quarters  of 
a  cent  a  quart,  you  have  the  cost  of  the  transportation  into 
the  city.  And  I  believe  that  the  wise  way  to  do  it  would  be 
to  so  distribute  these  milk  distributing  stations  throughout 
the  city,  that  it  would  do  away  with  a  large  part  of  the 
present  wagon  cost  of  milk  transportation. 

Ladies  and  gentlemen,  this  is  the  ultimate.  What  are  we 
going  to  do  in  the  meanwhile?  In  the  meanwhile,  I  see  but 
one  thing  to  do,  and  that  is  to  take  the  milk  as  we  have  it  now, 
to  see  that  the  places  in  which  it  is  produced  are  inspected  to 
the  best  of  our  ability,  to  exercise  our  energies  in  every  agency 
of  control  that  we  can  demand,  to  see  that  contagion  is  not 
spread  by  that  milk,  and  then,  as  Prof.  Sedgwick  has  said, 
recognizing  the  deficiencies  of  every  existing  system,  and 
recognizing  the  deficiencies  of  things  as  they  are  and  as  they 
are  going  to  be  for  the  next  several  years,  to  cook  that  milk 
at  such  a  temperature  as  will  kill  the  bacteria  that  are  con- 
tained therein.  This,  in  my  judgment,  is  the  only  thing  that 
is  open  to  us  for  the  present,  and  the  only  thing  that  will  be 
open  to  us  for  several  years.  This  other  thing  is  a  thing  to- 
ward which  we  should  be  constantly  working. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  In  the  old  times,  the  wise  men  used  to  come 
out  of  the  East,  ladies  and  gentlemen,,  but  now  we  get  con- 
structive suggestions  from  the  other  country. 

Some  people  are  not  aware  that  we  have  in  the  United  States 
a  public  health  service,  and  those  same  people  are  so  eager  for 
another  one  that  they  seem  unable  to  discover  the  excellent  one 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  59 

which  we  already  possess.  The  South  does  not  fail  to  see  it. 
When  yellow  fever  threatened  our  southern  states  in  1905,  I  think 
it  was,  they  clubbed  together  and  requested  the  United  States 
Public  Health  and  Marine  Hospital  Service  to  take  charge  of  the 
fight  against  yellow  fever.  California  does  not  think  so,  either. 
She  called  in  this  same  service  to  fight  the  plague.  In  both  in- 
stances splendid  work  was  done.  We  have  such  a  service  in 
Washington,  and  the  assistant  chief  of  it  is  with  us  to-night  and 
will  speak  to  us  next.  Dr.  Kerr. 

DR.  KERR  spoke  as  follows: 

THE    BEARING   OF   COMMUNICABLE   DISEASES   ON 
THE  CONTROL  OF  PUBLIC  MILK  SUPPLIES 

The  legal  control  of  public  milk  supplies  is  a  many-sided 
problem,  and  one  not  only  affecting  the  individual,  but  the 
community  and  nation  as  a  whole.  For  obvious  reasons  the 
need  of  an  efficient  method  of  control  from  the  farm  to  the 
consumer  has  been  most  keenly  felt  in  the  larger  municipali- 
ties, but,  as  is  shown  by  an  examination  of  their  laws  upon 
the  subject,  the  States  have  also  realized  the  necessity  of  some 
supervision  over  milk  supplies.  The  Federal  Government, 
from  its  standpoint,  also  recognizes  both  the  economic  and 
sanitary  importance  of  milk,  and  has  put  forth  well  directed 
efforts  to  encourage  the  production  of  a  more  abundant  and 
safe  supply  both  in  the  interest  of  the  producer  and  the  con- 
sumer. 

The  laws  relating  to  milk  and  milk  products  in  the  several 
States  may  be  regarded  as  having  three  general  objects;  first, 
development  of  the  dairy  industry ;  second,  prevention  of  fraud 
or  adulteration ;  and  third,  protection  of  the  public  health. 

On  account  of  the  food  value  of  milk  and  because  of  its  al- 
most universal  use,  the  development  of  the  dairy  industry  is 
essential,  and  in  devising  an  efficient  method  of  control,  this 
must  be  borne  in  mind;  the  dairyman  being  entitled  to  proper 
protection  and  reasonable  profits.  In  the  interest  of  the  con- 
sumer on  the  other  hand,  it  is  necessary  to  guard  against  adul- 
teration of  milk,  and  to  provide  that  its  food  value  shall  not 
be  impaired. 

Milk  is  a  food,  and  many  of  the  States  have  laws  to  prevent 
its  adulteration  and  to  require  that  it  shall  conform  to  certain 
standards.  The  national  Pure  Food  and  Drugs  Act  of  June 


60       CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

SO,  1906,  is  primarily  of  this  character,  and  under  its  pro- 
visions some  steps  have  been  taken  to  prevent  adulteration  and 
misbranding.  Under  such  laws  it  should  be  possible  to  main- 
tain minimum  standards  with  respect  to  the  various  constitu- 
ents of  milk,  and  to  prevent  the  sale  of  milk  containing  dilu- 
ents or  preservatives.  But  important  as  it  is  to  guarantee 
to  the  consumer  the  proper  food  value  of  milk,  and  its  freedom 
from  adulteration,  these  provisions  must  be  regarded  as  being 
primarily  in  the  interest  of  commerce  and  "the  square  deal." 

If  it  were  not  for  the  public  health  questions  involved,  the 
milk  problem  would  be  capable  of  early  and  easy  solution. 
But  as  it  is,  the  absolute  protection  of  public  milk  supplies 
from  contamination  by  infectious  organisms  is  a  well  nigh  im- 
possible task.  The  physician  is  frequently  made  aware  of  the 
dangers  of  milk  that  is  filthy,  and  the  sanitary  officer  is  con- 
stantly having  his  attention  called  to  the  dangers  of  milk  as 
an  agent  in  the  transmission  of  communicable  diseases.  In 
my  opinion,  this  is  the  most  serious  indictment  brought  against 
milk,  and  one  that  must  be  met  before  it  can  be  claimed  that 
there  has  been  devised  an  efficient  method  of  control  in  the  in- 
terest of  the  public  health. 

It  is  not  the  intention  to  minimize  those  efforts  that  are 
being  made  to  secure  clean  milk.  They  should  by  all  means  be 
continued  and  extended,  but  in  endeavoring  to  perfect  them, 
we  must  not  lose  sight  of  the  fact  that  safe  milk  is  the  real 
necessity.  The  present  measures  are  inadequate  to  insure 
freedom  from  the  infections  of  tuberculosis,  typhoid  fever, 
diphtheria  and  scarlet  fever  in  market  milk.  Fifteen  out  of 
223  samples  of  market  milk  (or  6.72%)  in  tne  citJ  of  Wash- 
ington examined  by  Anderson  contained  tubercle  bacilli  viru- 
lent for  guinea  pigs.  And  Trask  has  tabulated  examinations 
of  7097  samples  of  market  milk  of  which  594*  contained  tuber- 
cle bacilli. 

Of  even  greater  importance  is  the  contamination  of  milk 
by  typhoid  bacilli.  These  organisms  have  been  actually  iso- 
lated from  market  milk,  and  there  have  been  no  less  than  320 
typhoid  epidemics  reported  as  spread  through  this  agency. 
With  approximately  S50,000  cases  of  typhoid  fever  occurring 
annually  in  the  United  States,  and  the  disease  being  more 
prevalent  in  proportion  to  the  population  in  country  districts, 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  61 

there  must  be  frequent  pollution  of  the  rivers  of  milk  as  their 
minute  tributaries  radiating  over  hundreds  of  square  miles  are 
gathered  together  into  vast  streams  that  flow  daily  into  the 
larger  cities.  It  is  a  wonder  there  are  not  more  reports  of 
milk  borne  epidemics,  and  there  would  be,  if  epidemiological 
investigations  were  made  of  every  outbreak,  particularly  among 
children. 

What  then  is  the  present  status  of  the  milk  problem  from  a 
sanitary  point  of  view?  An  extremely  small  amount  of  pure 
milk  for  clinical  purposes  is  being  produced.  A  moderate 
amount  of  clean  milk  can  be  insured  as  a  result  of  careful 
dairy  inspection  as  maintained  by  some  cities  at  the  present 
time.  Milk  free  from  tubercle  bacilli  is  possible,  but  it  can 
only  be  had  at  the  expense  of  much  time  and  money,  and  it  is 
safe  to  say  that  much  of  the  market  milk  sold  is  not  free  from 
this  infection. 

An  adequate  supply  of  safe  milk  cannot  be  guaranteed  with 
the  amount  and  character  of  dairy  inspection  conducted  at 
the  present  time. 

The  average  number  of  dairies  inspected  per  day  by  in- 
spectors of  the  District  of  Columbia  during  the  fiscal  year 
ended  June  SO,  1909,  was  £.7.  At  this  rate,  one  inspector 
would  visit  approximately  840  dairy  farms  in  a  year.  It  is 
understood  that  the  milk  supply  of  New  York  City  comes  from 
over  30,000  farms.  At  the  same  rate,  it  would  require  at  least 
thirty-five  inspectors  to  make  one  visit  annually  to  all  of  these 
farms.  That  much  inspection  undoubtedly  accomplishes  some 
good,  but  it  is  manifestly  inadequate  to  insure  a  safe  milk  sup- 
ply to  New  York  City,  and  fails  to  afford  like  protection  to 
other  communities. 

The  fact  that  safe  milk  can  be  produced  under  prescribed 
methods  is  of  great  encouragement  to  sanitary  authorities 
charged  with  the  prevention  of  communicable  disases,  and  has 
resulted  in  the  adoption  of  more  or  less  adequate  laws  and 
ordinances  to  safeguard  the  production  and  handling  of  milk. 

But  any  supervision  short  of  the  requirements  formulated  by 
medical  milk  commissions  to  prevent  contamination  by  infec- 
tious diseases  will  not  guarantee  absolute  safety  from  those 
diseases. 

It  is  necessary,  therefore,  in  devising  an  efficient  method,  to 


62       CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

come  as  near  meeting  those  requirements  as  possible.  Two 
methods  are  open;  first,  extension  of  dairy  inspection  as  at 
present  conducted,  supplemented  by  pasteurization  under  of- 
ficial supervision;  second,  rigid  medical  and  veterinary  super- 
vision over  the  production  and  handling  of  milk,  and  enforce- 
ment of  the  tuberculin  test. 

If  the  second  method  is  to  be  relied  upon,  some  system  must 
be  adopted  whereby  there  will  be  reciprocity  between  the  sev- 
eral States  and  communities  within  those  States.  In  other 
words,  the  effort  should  be  to  secure  uniformity  of  methods  and 
standards  in  the  production  of  milk,  and  cooperation  of  fed- 
eral, State,  and  municipal  authorities  in  their  enforcement. 

In  sanitary  matters  the  "every  man  for  himself"  policy  has 
too  long  prevailed,  and,  while  it  has  resulted  in  more  or  less 
effective  protection  of  milk  supplies  of  many  of  the  cities  of  the 
country,  sanitary  administration  in  rural  districts  has  suf- 
fered in  consequence.  An  efficient  sanitary  service  for  the 
country  as  a  whole  can  only  be  secured  through  cooperation 
of  the  federal,  state  and  municipal  authorities.  If  New  York 
City  in  common  with  other  communities  were  to  adopt  ap- 
proved standards  of  milk  production  and  transportation,  and 
require  certificates  of  inspection  from  the  health  authorities 
in  those  districts  from  which  its  supply  comes,  it  would  have 
a  wonderful  influence  in  the  development  of  an  efficient  sani- 
tary inspection  service  that  would  cover  the  country. 

I  believe  this  plan  is  practicable,  although  it  would  take 
time  to  inaugurate  and  perfect  it.  It  would  be  a  means  also 
whereby  federal  and  state  authorities  could  discharge  their 
duties  in  the  interest  of  those  communities  that  are  not  now 
able  to  maintain  expensive  inspection  services. 

The  Surgeon-General  of  the  Public  Health  and  Marine  Hos- 
pital Service  has  aided  in  every  way  possible  the  campaign  for 
safe  milk,  and  encouraged  the  compilation  of  data  showing  the 
extent  and  influence  of  the  use  of  such  milk  among  infants. 
But  he  realizes  that  more  definite  results  could  be  attained  by 
strengthening  the  hands  of  federal,  State  and  municipal  health 
authorities,  and  increasing  their  effective  cooperation. 

There  appears  to  me  to  be  a  way  by  which  this  might  be 
accomplished  with  the  view  of  reducing  the  liability  of  the 
spread  of  contagious  and  infectious  diseases.  The  Act  of 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  63 

February  15,  1893,  provides  for  cooperation  of  the  Public 
Health  and  Marine  Hospital  Service  with  State  and  municipal 
authorities  to  prevent  the  spread  of  such  diseases  from  one 
state  or  territory  to  another,  and  authorizes  the  Secretary  of 
the  Treasury  to  issue  such  regulations  as  may  be  necessary  to 
prevent  such  spread.  When  issued,  these  regulations  may  be 
enforced  by  the  state  authorities,  but  if  they  fail  or  refuse,  the 
President  may  take  such  measures  as  may  be  necessary  to  en- 
force them.  Certain  of  the  states  likewise  have  laws  author- 
izing the  promulgation  of  regulations  for  the  protection  of  life 
and  health  within  their  borders  and  providing  penalties  for 
their  violation.  Under  these  laws  and  others  that  may  by  ex- 
perience be  shown  to  be  necessary,  and  through  the  confer- 
ences of  state  health  authorities  with  the  Public  Health  and 
Marine  Hospital  Service,  uniform  and  efficient  measures  should 
be  decided  upon  for  the  prevention  of  the  spread  of  contagious 
and  infectious  diseases  through  public  milk  supplies. 

Many  of  the  state  health  authorities,  on  the  other  hand,  are 
required  to  hold  conferences  with  the  municipal  health  author- 
ities ;  and  through  this  means,  municipalities  should  be  able  to 
secure  uniformity  of  methods,  and  state  aid.  Combined  ac- 
tion on  the  part  of  the  several  agencies  mentioned  should  bring 
about  tuberculin  testing  of  cattle,  frequent  and  rigid  medical 
inspections  of  dairy  employees  and  those  handling  milk,  and 
eventually  a  much  more  efficient  sanitary  service  for  the  coun- 
try at  large.  The  inspections  should  be  systematically  made 
by  local  health  officers,  and  their  efficiency  insured  by  the 
states.  If  a  particular  district  failed  or  refused  to  conform 
to  the  regulations,  it  would  appear  to  me  to  be  practicable 
under  federal  law  to  prevent  the  shipment  in  inter-state  traffic 
of  suspected  milk  from  those  localities.  Until  some  such  pro- 
vision is  made,  it  will  be  impracticable  to  prevent  the  sale  in 
one  municipality  of  milk  condemned  by  another  municipality, 
at  least  in  some  form  or  other.  In  the  meantime,  no  adequate 
protection  can  be  had  against  such  practice,  and  the  dangers 
it  involves,  except  through  pasteurization  under  official  super- 
vision. 

Finally,  in  suggesting  reciprocity  among  the  communities 
and  states,  as  one  means  of  securing  an  efficient  sanitary  in- 
spection, I  am  not  unmindful  of  the  difficulties  that  will  arise. 


64       CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

At  the  same  time  I  would  remind  you  that  a  similar  method 
has  developed  our  system  of  national  maritime  quarantine,  so 
that  such  information  relative  to  notifiable  diseases  as  is  avail- 
able, is  compiled  through  cooperation.  This  principle,  when 
put  into  practice,  will  do  much  for  the  improvement  of  public 
health  administration. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  Of  course,  the  problem  of  milk  supply  and  the 
public  health  is  most  acute  in  the  biggest  cities.  We  are  all 
proud  of  the  fact  that  the  City  of  New  York  maintains  a  Re- 
search Department  in  connection  with  its  health  work,  and  those 
of  us  who  know  Dr.  Park  are  proud  of  the  fact  that  Dr.  Park  is 
the  head  of  that  laboratory.  I  have  great  pleasure  in  presenting 
him  to  you. 

Dr.  PARK   spoke  as  follows: 

BACTERIAL  CONTAMINATION  OF  MILK  AS 
A  CAUSE  OF  DISEASE 

MR.  CHAIRMAN,  AND  LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN:  Recently  I 
was  at  a  meeting  of  a  milk  conference  in  New  York,  and  after 
talking  to  the  members  upon  the  bacteria  question,  one  of  the 
dealers  said,  "I  think  there  is  altogether  too  much  of  'bacteria' 
in  this  milk  agitation."  I  confess  that  there  has  been  an  em- 
barrassing amount  of  "bacteria"  in  the  talks  that  we  have 
been  having  this  evening,  and  there  were  certain  things  that  I 
was  going  to  speak  of  that  have  been  so  well  spoken  of  by 
Commissioner  Evans  and  by  Dr.  Kerr,  that  I  can  simply  say, 
to  everything  except,  perhaps,  the  city  cow,  that  I  absolutely 
agree  with  them.  And  I  think  perhaps  that  I  can  do  best  by 
cutting  out  a  good  deal  of  the  general  talk  that  I  was  to  give, 
and  devoting  my  time  to  other  things  to  which  I  have  given 
special  attention,  or  rather  to  which  the  colleagues  of  mine 
who  are  working  in  the  laboratory,  have  given  special  atten- 
tion. I  think,  therefore,  I  will  confine  myself  principally  to 
the  infant  milk. 

As  Commissioner  Evans  has  said,  all  of  those  who  are  work- 
ing on  the  milk  problem,  whether  they  be  inspectors  or  phy- 
sicians or  laboratory  men,  are  coming  more  and  more  to  be- 
lieve that  we  must  have  a  certain  quantity  of  infants'  milk,  and 
also  milk  which  can  be  taken  by  those  who  wish  to  pay  for 
clean  drawn  milk.  Then,  of  course,  you  have  the  big  supply, 
which  must  be  handled  differently. 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  65 

I  want  to  say  something  about  some  words  which  Commis- 
sioner Evans  used,  which,  if  any  here  believe  that  bacteria  are 
spoken  of  too  much,  might  lead  them  to  think  that  he  had 
given  them  grounds  for  faith.  He  spoke  about  the  very  great 
and  harmful  influence  in  milk,  due  to  dirt,  warmth,  and  stale- 
ness.  Now,  I  believe  that  he  would  agree  absolutely  with  me 
in  saying  that  the  dirt  is  harmful  chiefly  because  the  dirt  car- 
ries bacteria;  that  the  warmth  is  harmful  chiefly  because  the 
warmth  allows  bacteria  to  multiply;  and  that  the  staleness  is 
harmful  because  the  staleness  gives  time  for  the  bacteria  that 
come  in  with  the  dirt  and  are  growing  with  the  warmth,  to 
grow  to  the  full  amount;  and  that,  although  he  used  words 
other  than  "bacteria"  the  fact  is  that  those  three  things  are 
the  things  that  allow  the  bacteria  to  enter  the  milk  and  to  de- 
velop there. 

As  I  was  coming  down  on  the  subway,  I  was  trying  to  make 
up  my  mind  whether  to  give  the  first  place  to  tuberculosis  or 
to  typhoid  fever,  and  I  decided,  as  I  thought  it  over,  that  un- 
doubtedly typhoid  fever  came  first  and  tuberculosis  came  sec- 
ond. I  was  quite  interested  to  see  that  the  Commissioner,  in 
looking  over  the  ground  in  Chicago,  had  come  to  the  same  con- 
clusion ;  namely,  that  typhoid  comes  first  and  tuberculosis 
second,  both  coming  after  the  infant  mortality  due  to  the  bac- 
teria from  dirt,  warmth  and  staleness.  After  the  unanimity 
with  which  the  subject  of  bacteria  in  milk,  so  far  as  the  infant 
is  concerned,  has  been  spoken  of  here,  it  seems  almost  unnec- 
essary to  dwell  upon  that,  and  yet  very  recently  I  was  talking 
about  infant  mortality  with  one  of  the  most  intelligent  workers 
in  infant  diseases,  and  that  person  said  that  she  believed  it  was 
rather  the  warmth  than  the  bacteria.  And  a  great  many  chil- 
dren's physicians  and  others  interested  in  the  subject  believe 
that,  really,  bacteria  do  not  make  much  difference,  but  that  it 
is  the  warmth.  I  was  really  staggered  to  find  that  apparently 
intelligent  people  should  hold  such  an  opinion.  It  seems  to  me 
as  strange  as  the  opinions  of  those  who  feel  that  vaccination 
is  unnecessary  and  harmful.  Now,  believing  that  that  which 
is  true  of  intelligent  physicians  may  also  be  true  of  those  here, 
I  want  to  speak  about  some  experiences  that  I  had  several 
years  ago.  The  Rockefeller  Institute  allowed  the  Health  De- 
partment to  spend  quite  a  sum  of  money  in  this  direction,  and 


66       CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

we  started  out  to  make  observations  on  a  large  number  of 
healthy  babies.  Those  babies  were  on  different  kinds  of  milk ; 
on  cheap  milk,  heated  before  they  took  it ;  on  good  bottled 
milk,  heated  or  not  heated  before  they  took  it ;  on  a  good  milk, 
properly  modified  and  pasteurized  and  given  to  the  children  in 
the  bottles ;  on  the  certified  milks ;  and  on  the  milk  from  the 
mother's  breast.  Those  babies  were  watched  through  two  sum- 
mers— different  sets  of  them,  and  through  two  winters,  and 
then  we  compared  the  results  and  with  the  aid  of  Dr.  Holt,  put 
them  into  concrete  form.  Now,  the  results  there  were  so 
definite,  and  they  agreed  so  well  with  all  that  is  claimed  by 
those  who  have  really  studied  the  matter  in  any  way  and  have 
not  simply  left  it  to  the  observation  of  those  who  go  about 
among  sick  babies,  that  I  want  to  go  over  them  a  little  in  de- 
tail, although  it  may  seem  a  little  dry. 

Now,  in  the  first  place,  the  babies  on  the  store  milk :  There 
were  altogether  79  of  those  in  the  summer,  and  the  milk  was 
cheap  store  milk  which  ran  from  5,000,000  to  40,000,000  bac- 
teria per  cubic  centimeter.  It  was  heated,  of  course,  before 
they  took  it.  They  could  not  keep  it  without  heating  it.  Of 
that  79,  15  died  and  £0  did  badly.  "Doing  badly"  means  that 
they  had  a  large  number  of  days  of  diarrhoea.  Now,  it  is 
rather  interesting  to  note  that  there  were  about  an  equal  num- 
ber on  condensed  milk,  where  the  bacteria  did  not  become  a 
factor,  and  yet,  of  those  on  condensed  milk,  out  of  a  total  of 
70,  14  died  and  14  did  badly — practically  the  same  result  that 
was  obtained  from  the  cheap  store  milk.  I  just  speak  of  this 
because  those  of  us  who  believe  we  know  that  these  bacterial 
growths  make  milk  unfit  for  the  infant,  do  not  deny  for  a  mo- 
ment that  other  things  may  make  food  unfit  for  the  infant,  and 
that  other  things  cause  infant  mortality.  We  do  not  main- 
tain, for  a  moment,  that  the  children  that  died  from  bronchitis, 
and  broncho-pneumonia,  and  meningitis,  contracted  it  from 
the  milk,  and,  of  course,  those  on  the  breast  milk  who  died  from 
those  causes,  didn't  die  from  the  effects  of  cow's  milk.  We 
are  not  speaking  now  of  the  other  kinds  of  baby  food  that  may 
be  filled  with  bacteria  and  the  products  of  bacteria,  which  are 
so  harmful.  Now,  it  may  be  interesting,  also,  to  bring  out 
the  point  which  Dr.  Evans  touched  upon,  that  we  cannot  have 
filthy  milk  and  pasteurize  it,  and  give  that  milk  to  infants, 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  67 

without  having  serious  danger  and  death.  This  very  milk 
that  was  so  bad  because  of  its  dirt  and  warmth  was  heated  be- 
fore it  was  given  to  the  infants,  and  yet  they  did  so  badly  upon 
it.  This  shows  that  such  milk  could  not  be  made  as  it  should 
be  simply  by  killing  the  bacteria. 

Now,  we  had  98  babies  on  good  bottled  milk,  and  there  we 
had  nine  deaths,  against,  as  you  see,  15  deaths  out  of  79  with 
the  cheap  bottled  milk.  That  is  a  good  deal  better  result  as 
to  the  deaths,  but  29  did  badly. 

Now,  when  it  came  to  a  good  milk,  modified  and  pasteurized 
and  sent  out  in  bottles,  here  we  had  an  entirely  different  re- 
sult. Of  145  babies,  only  4  died,  and  only  24  did  badly.  You 
see,  with  the  cheap  store  milk,  out  of  79  babies,  15  died,  while, 
with  good  milk  modified,  pasteurized  and  put  into  the  small 
bottles,  of  145,  only  4  died.  You  see,  therefore,  the  absolute 
advantage  on  the  side  of  good  milk  pasteurized  and  put  into 
the  bottles. 

We  had,  naturally,  on  the  good  plain  certified  milk  that  was 
given  raw,  a  very  good  result.  We  only  had  12  infants,  and 
they  all  did  well,  and  naturally,  none  died. 

Of  the  breast-fed,  there  were  31  and  none  died.  These 
babies,  of  course,  were  all  healthy  in  the  beginning. 

Now,  we  turn  to  winter — and  that  is  the  season  when  intel- 
ligent physicians  say  that  bacteria  cannot  do  any  harm.  And 
we  have  learned,  from  what  the  laboratories  and  the  physicians 
working  together  have  said,  that  infants  in  winter  can  drink 
bacteria  in  the  milk  and  apparently  derive  no  harm  from  it. 
Milk  in  winter  is  cold  from  the  beginning  to  the  end,  and  the 
milk  changes  are,  therefore,  of  a  very  much  less  degree.  Not 
to  go  into  detail,  in  the  winter  the  infants  did  nearly  as  well 
on  the  cheap  store  milk  as  on  the  good  bottled  milk  and  the 
certified  milk.  The  deaths  in  winter  came  entirely  from  penu- 
monias  and  not  from  diarrheas.  Of  the  211  treated  in  win- 
ter, only  6  died  altogether,  while,  as  you  see,  in  the  summer- 
time of  421  there  were  41  that  died. 

So  the  point  is  plain  that  the  bacteria  in  the  summer  milk 
make  that  milk  unfit  for  babies.  Those  babies,  with  the  de- 
pression due  to  the  heat,  cannot  stand  the  changes  in  the 
milk  and  the  dangers  of  bacteria,  as  they  can  in  the  winter. 
In  summer,  the  heat  multiplies  the  bacteria  which  cause  death 


68       CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

or  diarrhea,  while  in  winter,  the  bacteria  can  be  taken  with 
considerable  impunity  by  infants,  the  same  as  by  older  chil- 
dren. But  they  cannot  take  them  in  the  summer  time. 

Now,  my  experience,  up  to  this  time,  brings  out  this  point 
very  clearly:  That  bacteria  and  their  changes  do  produce 
diarrhea  and  death. 

At  one  time,  the  15th  of  June,  50  babies  were  getting  a  cer- 
tain milk.  It  was  all  pasteurized  and  was  fairly  good  milk. 
On  the  next  day,  one-half  of  them  got  this  milk  in  bottles  and 
the  other  half  got  raw  milk,  everything  else  being  the  same. 
Instead  of  being  free  from  bacteria,  there  were  from  a  million 
to  two  million  per  cubic  centimeter  in  the  raw  milk.  The 
mothers  did  not  know  the  difference,  but  one-half  of  them  got 
the  milk  raw.  In  ten  days,  the  two  sets  of  children  were  do- 
ing entirely  different,  and  we  had  to  put  a  number  of  the  chil- 
dren who  were  on  the  raw  milk,  back  on  the  pasteurized,  be- 
cause otherwise  we  would  have  been  responsible  for  sickness  and 
death.  There  was  a  change  without  anybody's  knowing  the 
difference.  They  were  simply  provided  with  the  milk  without 
its  being  pasteurized. 

Another  thing:  Observation  shows,  of  course,  that  chil- 
dren can  have  diarrhea  without  getting  it  from  cow's  milk. 
They  have  infant  diarrhea  in  the  country  where  they  have  a 
very  pure  milk  right  on  the  farm,  and  they  have  more  diarrhea 
there,  also,  in  July  and  August,  and  more  deaths,  than  in  the 
cool  weather.  So  you  see  the  effect  of  the  heat,  with  the  cow's 
milk,  with  no  bacteria  and  you  see  that  those  infants  that 
were  on  the  mother's  milk  had  almost  no  diarrhea.  So  I  say, 
there  is  no  question  about  it ;  a  clean  raw  milk  or  a  clean  pas- 
teurized milk  will  be  much  better  for  infants  in  summer  than 
milk  that  has  bacteria. 

The  other  point  I  want  to  touch  upon  is  typhoid  fever.  I 
simply  wish  to  bring  out  the  point  that  Dr.  Evans  just  men- 
tioned, that  however  much  care  we  may  take  about  the  obser- 
vation of  developed  cases  of  typhoid  fever,  we  are  practically 
at  a  loss  to  know  how  to  handle  the  typhoid  carrier.  Now, 
actual  observation  has  shown  that  there  are  practically  as 
many  typhoid  carriers  going  about  among  us  as  there  are 
typhoid  fever  cases  in  a  year.  So  there  are,  here  and  there, 
cases  that  we  know  nothing  about,  that  are  affecting  the  milk. 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  69 

It  came  to  the  notice  of  the  Health  Department  a  little  more 
than  a  year  ago  that  a  large  number  of  cases  had  come  from 
one  man,  who  had  had  typhoid  fever  forty-seven  years  ago. 
We  found  that  he  was  still  passing  typhoid  fever  bacilli  in 
great  abundance.  We  have  had  other  cases,  and  one  of  our 
men,  Dr.  Baldwin,  who  has  been  giving  considerable  attention 
to  typhoid  fever  and  watching  and  looking  up  the  cases,  says 
that  milk  produces  more  typhoid  in  New  York  than  any  other 
single  thing.  That  agrees,  you  see,  with  Commissioner  Evans' 
observations  in  Chicago. 

Now,  to  take  up  the  last  point  that  I  want  to  touch  upon, 
that  of  tuberculosis.  All  of  you  who  have  been  in  touch  with 
this  work,  know  that  from  time  to  time  there  has  been  a  great 
change  in  our  feelings  about  tuberculosis.  I  remember  that 
when  I  first  took  up,  as  part  of  my  work,  the  direction  of  the 
very  small  laboratories  then  in  the  Department,  we  believed 
that  the  bacilli  of  cows  were  equally  as  infectious  as  those  from 
men,  and  we  started  in  to  tuberculin-test  all  the  cows  in 
Greater  New  York, — beginning  with  Greater  New  York  and 
expecting  to  pass  out  to  the  farms.  We  tested  some  5000 
cows  in  that  year.  Suddenly  we  got  word  that  Prof.  Koch 
had  stated  that  tuberculosis,  as  transmitted  from  cows  to  man, 
was  a  negligible  quantity.  Although,  of  course,  we  had  some- 
what different  views,  that  simply  prevented  us  from  going  on. 
If  the  greatest  authority  stated  that  it  was  so,  it  was  almost 
impossible  for  us  to  enforce  the  tuberculin  test.  Then,  as  you 
know,  men  all  over  the  world,  as  well  as  Koch  himself,  restudied 
the  question,  and  we  had  to  go  back  to  the  careful  observation, 
not  of  cases  but  of  bacteria  obtained  from  actual  persons  dy- 
ing of  tuberculosis.  The  fact  was  that  human  tuberculosis 
was  to  be  found  everywhere,  and  cow  tuberculosis  was  to  be 
found  everywhere,  and  that  in  Washington,  Chicago,  New  York 
and  other  places  a  considerable  share  of  the  milk  was  found 
to  contain  such  bacilli,  and  it  was  impossible  to  prove  any  re- 
lation between  those  facts.  Then  it  was  found  that  the  bacilli 
had  different  characteristics,  and  case  after  case  was  studied, 
to  find  out  actually  how  many  had  tuberculosis  from  cows  and 
how  many  from  man.  So,  of  course,  it  was  undertaken  to 
prove,  if  possible,  whether  some  people  or  some  children  who 
got  it,  got  it  from  cattle.  That  was  proved  by  the  New  York 


70       CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

Commission  and  the  German  Commission  and  others.  And 
here  in  New  York,  some  three  years  ago,  we  started,  in  another 
way,  to  find  how  much  tuberculosis  was  due  to  milk.  We  took 
every  case  that  came  to  a  number  of  hospitals,  and  for  three 
years  a  group  of  workers  at  the  laboratories  have  been  study- 
ing them.  In  that  way,  following  the  best  lines  and  bringing 
the  results  together  with  those  of  other  workers,  it  is  giving 
us  a  fair  idea.  So  far  as  adults  go,  we  have  only  found  one 
in  a  number  of  hundreds,  that  derived  tuberculosis  from  cat- 
tle, and  that  was  an  insignificant  lesion  that  was  found  acci- 
dentally upon  an  operation.  But  with  the  children,  as  you 
know,  the  story  is  very  different.  I  will  read  here  first  the 
total  number  of  cases  in  children,  and  then  give  you  two  dif- 
ferent institutions,  to  show  how  the  accident  of  taking  cow's 
milk  or  mother's  milk  will  affect  this  percentage. 

Altogether,  we  have,  in  children  under  five  years  of  age,  more 
than  sixty  cases.  Of  these,  fifty-nine  were  under  five  years. 
Nine  died  from  bovine  tuberculosis,  and  fifty  died  from  the 
human  contagion — that  is,  the  human  type  of  bacillus.  That 
is,  fifteen  per  cent  of  all  the  deaths  of  little  children  (from 
tuberculosis)  that  we  have  come  across,  taking  the  cases  as 
they  came,  without  selection,  have  been  due  to  the  bovine  in- 
fection. Now,  these  cases  were  largely  from  two  institutions. 
The  one  which  gave  us  the  most  of  the  cases  was  the  Baby's 
Hospital,  and  the  Baby's  Hospital  represents  very  fairly  the 
average  baby  in  New  York.  Some  eighty  per  cent  of  those 
babies  were  breast-fed.  Most  of  them  were  under  a  year  old. 
Of  those  babies  in  the  Baby's  Hospital,  we  had,  altogether, 
forty-three  fatal  cases.  Of  those  forty-three  fatal  cases,  four 
were  due  to  milk  that  had  the  bovine  infection,  and  thirty- 
nine  to  the  human  infection.  That  is,  we  had  there  about  nine 
per  cent  due  to  the  bovine  infection,  among  average  babies. 
But  taking  the  other  institution,  with  the  cases  that  I  spoke 
of,  it  brought  it  up  to  fifteen  per  cent. 

The  next  institution  was  one  in  which  the  children  were  not 
breast-fed.  They  were  sent  out  and  cared  for  by  women  not 
their  mothers,  and  they  were  all  on  cow's  milk.  Here,  al- 
though we  had  very  few  cases,  the  condition  was  remarkable. 
There  were  nine  fatal  cases  that  we  studied,  and  these  babies 
were  all  on  New  York  City  cow's  milk.  Of  these,  five  died 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  71 

from  milk  infection  and  only  four  from  the  human  infection. 
So  that,  while  it  is  true,  I  think,  that  only  about  nine  per 
cent  of  the  New  York  babies  that  die  from  tuberculosis  die 
from  milk  infection,  where  eighty  per  cent  of  them  were 
breast-fed,  yet,  where  they  were  all  on  cow's  milk,  over  half  of 
them  who  died  of  tuberculosis  were  found  to  have  the  bovine 
type. 

I  may  say  that,  so  far  as  the  older  children  go,  the  per- 
centage of  tuberculosis  to  milk  is  higher,  but  here  it  is  no 
longer  fatal  tuberculosis,  but  was  recovered  from  in  most  cases. 

We  have  been  trying  to  find  out  what  this  means,  and  to 
interpret  these  figures.  We  find  that  a  great  deal  of  bron- 
chitis and  marasmus  in  infants  is  really  tuberculosis.  When 
we  consider  that  far  the  greater  number  of  cases  in  adult 
lives  are  due  to  human  infection,  we  believe  that  only  two  or 
three  per  cent  of  all  cases  of  tuberculosis  are  due  to  bovine 
infection,  because  so  many  more  cases  of  tuberculosis  occur 
from  twenty  years  on  until  deaath.  But  you  see,  among 
children,  the  bovine  infection  is  extremely  marked,  and  you  see 
again,  that  the  dirt  and  the  bacteria  that  we  find  in  children's 
milk  has  a  very  decided  effect  on  infant  mortality,  as  is  proved 
when  its  results  are  contrasted  with  those  of  a  general  milk 
and  a  children's  milk  free  from  tubercle  bacilli.  Likewise,  we 
who  are  grown  up  may  drink  dirty  and  bacteria-laden  milk  al- 
most with  impunity,  if  we  choose  to  do  so. 

I  think  it  is  most  interesting  to  note  that  those  who  are 
working  in  different  cities  in  different  ways  agree  so  nearly  on 
some  of  these  things,  although,  as  Dr.  Sedgwick  says,  it  has 
been  apparent  in  the  past  that  there  were  many  diverse  ways 
of  looking  at  it. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  In  connection  with  Dr.  Park's  very  illuuminat- 
ing  contribution  to  the  meeting  this  evening,  I  think  we  should 
always  bear  in  mind  the  wonderful  experience  of  Japan,  where, 
until  recently,  they  used  no  cow's  milk,  but  where  tuberculosis 
is  as  prevalent  as  in  any  other  country.  One  fact  of  that  kind 
is  worth  a  bushel  of  guessing  and  supposing  and  theorizing.  It 
is  extremely  interesting  to  find  that  this  falls  in  so  well  with  Dr. 
Park's  researches. 

No  meeting  of  this  kind  would  be  complete  without  a  word 
from  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  because,  while  we  are  mostly 


72       CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

interested  in  the  public  health,  we  must  not,  in  considering  this 
great  problem,  forget  the  farmer.  We  must  not  forget  the 
difficulties  under  which  milk  is  produced.  Dr.  E.  C.  Schroeder, 
Superintendent  of  the  Experiment  Station  of  the  Bureau  of 
Animal  Industry  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture  in  Washing- 
ton, will  speak  to  us  on  "The  Real  Need  for  Pasteurization." 

DR.  SCHROEDER  spoke  as   follows: 

THE  REAL  NEED  FOR  PASTEURIZATION 

LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN:  After  listening  to  the  addresses 
made  by  the  preceding  speakers,  I  realize  that  I  have  nothing 
radically  new  to  say  to  you,  and  consequently  I  hope  I  will 
not  draw  too  much  upon  your  patience. 

The  objectionable  and  dangerous  character  of  impure  milk 
is  due  to  any  one,  or  to  a  combination  of  two  or  more,  or  to  all 
of  several  dissimilar  conditions,  each  of  which  presents  a  dif- 
ferent problem  when  its  detection,  and  correction  or  counter- 
action are  taken  into  consideration.  Hence,  to  illustrate  the 
truth  of  what  seems  to  me  to  be  an  undeniable  fact,  namely, 
that  the  pasteurization  of  milk  is  an  expedient  we  are  practic- 
ally forced  to  adopt  for  the  protection  of  the  public  health, 
I  will  divide  impure  milk  into  four  kinds  and  give  each  kind 
a  little  attention. 

The  four  kinds  are,  1  adulterated  milk;  £,  dirty  milk;  3, 
bacteria-laden  milk ;  and  4,  infected  milk. 

Adulterated  milk  is  an  article  that  has  been  fought  with  fair 
success  for  a  long  time.  As  an  adulteration,  whether  it  is  the 
abstraction  of  the  cream  or  the  addition  of  water  or  other 
substances,  including  preservatives,  is  always  a  wilful,  con- 
scious act  of  fraud,  the  punishment  for  adulterating  milk 
should  be  made  so  severe,  and  should  be  so  rigidly  enforced, 
that  no  dishonest  person  with  ordinary  common  sense  would 
care  to  expose  himself  to  the  danger  of  detection  for  the  in- 
creased profits  which  the  use  of  adulterants  might  bring. 
The  detection  of  adulterants  is  a  matter  with  which  the  chemi- 
cal inspection  of  milk  must  deal. 

Dirty  milk  is  another  article  for  which  no  toleration  should 
be  shown,  especially  when  the  amount  of  foreign  matter  it 
contains  is  large  enough, — and  this  is  not  uncommon  with  mar- 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  73 

ket  milk, — to  form  a  deposit,  visible  to  the  unaided  eye,  after 
the  milk  stands  a  short  time  in  the  containers  in  which  it  is 
sold.  The  examination  of  milk  itself  and  the  sediment  that 
can  be  obtained  from  it  in  centrifuge  tubes  should  be  suffi- 
cient to  determine  whether  it  is  equal  to  or  falls  below  a  sat- 
isfactory standard  of  cleanliness. 

The  elimination  from  commerce  of  milk  that  contains  more 
than  a  reasonable  permissible  maximum  of  foreign  matter  is  a 
question  of  inspection  applied  to  cows,  dairy-barns,  milk 
houses,  milkers,  utensils,  etc. 

Bacteria-laden  milk, — omitting  the  fact,  since  I  have  al- 
ready spoken  about  dirty  milk, — that  an  excessive  bacterial 
content  often  is  the  direct  outgrowth  of  an  excessive  amount  of 
filth, — may  be  of  two  kinds ;  that  which  has  not  been  properly 
cooled  and  kept  at  a  low  temperature,  and  that  which  has  been 
kept  too  long  after  it  was  produced.  In  other  words,  warm 
milk  and  stale  milk. 

Bacteria-laden  milk  must  be  dealt  with  through  bacterial 
counts,  and  I  believe  this  can  be  done  if  we  do  not  insist  on 
counts  numerically  too  low.  A  standard  could  be  established 
for  different  climates  and  different  seasons  of  the  year  by 
making  a  large  number  of  counts  with  milk  from  a  number  of 
different  dealers,  known  through  inspection  to  have  been  pro- 
duced, handled  at  every  stage,  and  distributed  under  eco- 
nomically practicable  and  satisfactory  conditions. 

If  the  bacterical  count  cannot  be  economically  kept  below  a 
reasonable  maximum,  a  maximum  below  which  milk  becomes  a 
source  of  abdominal  diseases  among  infants  which  make  the 
first  two  years  of  human  life  the  period  of  highest  mortality, 
then  we  will  have  to  resort  to  pasteurization  as  the  only,  im- 
mediately available,  sufficiently  inexpensive,  reliable  expedient. 

We  now  come  to  infected  milk,  and  by  this  term  I  wish  to 
designate  the  kind  of  milk  that  is  contaminated  with  specific 
agents  of  communicable  diseases. 

Dirty  and  bacteria-laden  milk  are  closely  related,  because 
the  conditions  that  facilitate  the  introduction  of  extraneous 
substances,  which  invariably  contain  germs,  into  milk,  are  akin 
to  the  carelessness  in  handling  which  facilitates  the  rapid 
multiplication  of  bacteria.  But  infected  milk  is,  strictly 
speaking,  a  separate  and  distinct  product.  No  doubt  dirty 


74       CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

milk  is  a  commoner  carrier  of  infection  than  clean  milk,  be- 
cause the  conditions  that  enable  other  foreign  substances  to 
find  their  way  into  milk  also  expose  it  more  seriously  to  the  in- 
troduction of  specific  infectious  materials ;  but,  on  the  other 
hand,  the  otherwise  cleanest  and  best  milk  may  be  infected  with 
specific  agents  of  disease,  and  infected  milk  of  the  otherwise 
most  satisfactory  character  is  more  dangerous  than  nonin- 
fected  milk  that  contains  an  objectionable  amount  of  dirt  and 
bacteria. 

The  introduction  of  infectious  materials  into  milk  from 
the  bodies  of  diseased  cows  is  a  danger  that  can  be  checked  to 
a  great  extent  by  careful  inspection,  including  the  application 
of  the  tuberculin  test  to  eliminate  tuberculosis.  But,  if  in- 
spection and  tuberculin  test  are  really  sufficient,  I  am  strongly 
inclined  to  believe  that  this  is  due  more  to  the  fact  that  rela- 
tively few  diseases  of  cattle  are  transmissible  to  man  than  to  a 
thoroughly  effective  exclusion  from  milk  of  the  specific  agents 
that  cause  disease  among  cattle.  In  animals  and  human  beings 
alike,  we  must  remember  that  diagnosis, — the  recognition  of 
the  dangerous  character  of  a  disease, — more  commonly  follows 
than  precedes  the  period  at  which  the  dissemination  of  in- 
fectious materials  begins. 

When  we  come  to  the  infection  of  milk,  by  human  beings, 
with  germs  to  which  the  human  body  is  certainly  susceptible, 
we  have  really  reached  the  most  complex  question  with  which 
the  fight  for  pure  milk  must  deal.  The  protection  of  milk 
against  infection  through  those  persons  who  are  visibly  af- 
fected with  communicable  diseases  presents  no  insurmount- 
able difficulty,  as  they  are  usually  quarantined  under  the  su- 
pervision of  health  officers  whose  duty  it  is  to  protect  the 
public  health.  But  what  about  chronic  disseminators  of  dis- 
ease germs?  How  about  persons  whose  natural  resistance  to 
infection  does  not  reach  actual  immunity,  but  is  great  enough 
to  enable  them  to  pass  through  disease  without  showing  suf- 
ficiently marked  symptoms  to  make  a  diagnosis  possible;  that 
is,  persons  actually  afflicted  with  communicable  disease  but  who 
are  looked  upon  as  being  merely  a  little  indisposed?  How 
about  persons  who  continue  to  work  during  the  early  stages 
of  an  infectious  disease  before  a  diagnosis  has  been  made;  or 
persons  who,  aftr**  exposure  to  such  infected  persons  among 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  75 

their  friends  or  in  their  families,  continue  to  come  in  contact 
with  milk?  And  how  about  convalescents  and  those  who  are 
associated  with  convalescents,  when  we  know  that  the  reason 
for  terminating  a  quarantine  is  oftener  a  question  of  time  than 
a  specific  determination  that  the  convalescent  and  his  associ- 
ates are  safe  persons  to  be  at  large? 

To  ask  these  questions  is  not  sounding  an  unnecessary 
alarm  because  hundreds  of  epidemics  have  been  traced  directly 
to  infected  milk,  and  because  it  is  a  noteworthy  fact,  a  fact 
that  is  constantly  becoming  more  impressive  wherever  epidem- 
ics are  traced  to  their  sources,  that  immediate  personal  con- 
tact and  the  use  of  raw,  infected  milk  are  very  conspicuous 
among  the  causes  about  which  definite  statements  can  be  made 
and  on  w^hich  the  propagation  of  infectious  diseases  depends. 

The  long  continued,  chronic  dissemination  of  disease  germs 
by  seemingly  normal  persons  is  a  subject  about  which  our 
knowledge  is  very  meagre.  We  have  some  reasons  for  be- 
lieving that  such  persons  are  dangerous  intermittently  rather 
than  continuously,  and  if  this  is  true,  even  a  careful  exami- 
nation of  all  persons  engaged  in  the  dairy  business  will  not 
safeguard  milk  against  periodic  infection.  If  there  is  a  cor- 
rective measure  that  can  be  used  against  this  danger,  other 
than  its  counteraction  by  pasteurization,  I  must  confess  that  I 
have  not  been  able  to  see  it. 

As  to  persons  whose  resistance  to  an  infectious  disease  is 
not  sufficient  to  protect  them  wholly,  though  it  is  great  enough 
to  prevent  them  from  becoming  more  than  slightly  ill,  we  have, 
so  far  as  the  infection  of  milk  is  concerned,  a  very  similar  prob- 
lem to  that  presented  by  the  chronic  bearer  of  disease  germs. 
That  such  persons  must  be  common  no  one  can  doubt  who 
has  observed  the  enormous  difference  in  the  severity  with  which 
different  persons  are  attacked  by  the  same  disease  during  a 
single  epidemic.  Every  physician  knows  that  the  resistance  of 
individuals  exposed  to  an  epidemic  ranges  from  absolute  im- 
munity to  a  fatally  high  degree  of  susceptibility. 

Between  absolute  immunity  and  a  degree  of  susceptibility 
which  permits  the  development  of  only  a  barely  diagnosable 
affection,  we  no  doubt  have  disease  invaded  individuals  who 
serve  as  dangerous  disseminators  of  that  infectious  material 
which  enters  human  bodies  from  undiscoverable,  mysterious 


76       CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

sources.  Can  anything  but  pasteurization  protect  against 
the  infectious  material  that  may  be  introduced  into  milk  from 
such  individuals? 

We  must  bear  in  mind  that  the  infection  of  milk  is  a  very 
different  matter  from  the  infection  of  other  articles  of  food. 
Milk  is  the  only  liquid  article  of  human  food  that  is  at  one 
and  the  same  time  an  ideal  culture  medium  for  micro-organisms 
and  that  is  very  extensively  used  in  a  raw  state.  Other  arti- 
cles of  food  may  also  become  infected,  but  if  they  are  solid  and 
have  firm,  dry  surfaces,  like  bread  for  example, — as  this  is 
an  article  that  can  in  a  measure  compare  with  milk  relative  to 
the  extensive  and  practically  indispensable  need  for  it, — the 
disease  germs  remain  on  the  exterior,  where  they  are  ex- 
posed to  the  potent  germicidal  action  of  light  and  do  not  multi- 
ply. Germs  deposited  on  solid  food  that  has  a  moist  surface 
may  multiply,  but  the  multiplication  is  slow  compared  to  that 
which  occurs  in  milk,  and,  furthermore,  most  solid  articles  of 
food  that  have  moist  surfaces  are  washed  or  exposed  to  the 
sterilizing  action  of  heat  shortly  before  they  are  eaten.  In 
milk  the  germs  not  only  find  an  excellent  culture  medium,  but 
they  sink  into  it  and  are  protected  by  its  opaque  character 
from  the  action  of  light,  and  when  they  grow  the  rapidity  of 
multiplication  is  not  limited  as  on  a  solid  medium  by  the 
formation  of  stationary  colonies. 

As  to  the  danger  from  those  who  are  in  the  early  stages  of 
infectious  diseases,  before  a  diagnosis  has  been  made,  or  even 
before  the  person  is  conscious  that  his  health  is  declining,  it 
is  well  to  remember  that  all  our  infectious  diseases  have  a 
period  of  incubation  or  a  period  of  time  that  elapses  between 
the  moment  of  infection  and  the  visible  development  of  symp- 
toms. Just  how  soon  during  the  period  of  incubation  an  in- 
dividual becomes  a  source  of  danger  to  those  who  are  exposed 
to  him  is  a  subject  about  which  we  know  very  little.  If  we 
take  a  disease  like  diphtheria,  the  germs  of  which  multiply  in 
milk,  we  know  that  its  diagnosis  frequently  depends  on  our 
ability  to  obtain  cultures  of  diphtheria  bacilli  from  the  pa- 
tient's throat,  a  region  from  which  germs  are  easily  expelled 
during  coughing,  sneezing  and  talking.  The  germs  are  fre- 
quently there  in  considerable  numbers  before  the  affected  per- 
son is  perceptibly  ill,  and  they  are  often  present  in  large 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  77 

numbers  in  the  mouths  and  throats  of  persons  who  remain  free 
from  symptoms  of  diphtheria.  Of  typhoid  fever,  the  germs  of 
which  also  multiply  in  milk,  we  cannot  say  with  certainty 
that  the  sufferer  does  not  begin  to  expel  infectious  material 
from  his  body  sometimes  during  the  occasionally  long  period 
of  general  depression  which  is  often  the  forerunner  of  what 
is  recognized  as  the  real  disease.  As  to  convalescents  from  in- 
fectious diseases,  it  is  especially  in  recent  times  that  we  have 
found  reasons  which  justify  the  belief  that  a  revision  of  our 
ideas,  relative  to  the  time  when  a  convalescent  can  safely  be 
released  from  quarantine,  is  urgently  needed. 

The  more  I  study  this  subject  the  more  I  am  impressed  with 
the  belief  that  the  pasteurization  of  milk  must  come  into  gen- 
eral use.  Inspection,  bacterial  counts,  chemical  examination, 
and  whatever  else  we  can  do  for  the  purification  of  the  milk 
supply  may  reduce,  but  cannot  prevent  the  infection  of  milk 
by  unsuspected  but  dangerous  human  disseminators  of  disease 
germs. 

I  do  not  mean,  however,  when  I  urge  pasteurization,  that 
we  should  regard  its  practice  as  a  reason  for  tolerating  evils 
which  only  inspection,  bacterial  counts,  etc.,  can  correct.  The 
proper  kind  of  milk  to  pasteurize  is  that  which  is  as  safe  and 
pure  in  the  raw  state  as  milk  can  reasonably  and  economically 
be  made. 

In  conclusion  I  wish  to  say  a  few  words  about  pasteurization. 
The  pasteurizaton  of  milk  to  be  reliable  and  satisfactory  must 
be  conducted  under  close  official  supervision.  So-called  com- 
mercial pasteurization,  without  official  supervision,  is  not  sat- 
isfactory, because  commercially  pasteurized  milk  has  repeat- 
edly been  found  to  contain  virulent  tubercle  bacilli.  The 
living  tubercle  bacilli  indicate  that  the  milk  was  not  raised  to 
a  sufficiently  high  temperature,  or  that  it  was  not  kept  at  an 
elevated  temperature  long  enough,  or  that  it  was  not  heated 
evenly  throughout  its  entire  volume.  When  mistakes  in  one 
direction  occur  it  is  fair  to  assume  that  they  also  occur  in  the 
opposite  direction,  and  this  may  explain  why  some  persons 
have  objected  to  commercially  pasteurized  milk  because  of 
its  burned  or  scorched  taste. 

Proper  pasteurization  means  the  exposure  of  milk  to  a  tem- 
perature high  enough  to  destroy  pathogenic  bacteria  in  from 


78       CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

15  to  30  minutes,  and  no  higher,  and  the  maintenance  of  this 
temperature,  in  accordance  with  the  precise  degree  used,  for  a 
period  of  from  15  to  30  minutes.  It  also  means  that  the  en- 
tire volume  of  the  milk  shall  be  heated  evenly,  and  not  some 
parts  of  it  left  almost  cold  while  others  are  burned. 

The  official  supervision  of  pasteurization  has  the  appearance 
of  a  difficult  problem.  Dr.  A.  D.  Melvin,  Chief  of  the  Fed- 
eral Bureau  of  Animal  Industry,  suggested  recently  that  a 
solution  could  possibly  be  found  by  imitating  a  method  used 
in  the  Federal  Meat  Inspection.  That  is,  if  a  dairyman  has  a 
sufficient  amount  of  milk  to  pasteurize  to  make  it  reasonable  to 
station  an  inspector  at  his  establishment,  let  him  do  his  own 
pasteurizing  in  his  own  place  under  the  supervision  of  an  in- 
spector; on  the  other  hand,  if  his  supply  is  not  sufficient  to 
make  this  reasonable,  have  him  send  his  milk  to  a  central  pas- 
teurizing plant,  where  it  can  be  pasteurized  under  proper  su- 
pervision. The  inspectors,  in  addition  to  supervising  the  pas- 
teurization, could  give  careful  attention  to  the  general  quality 
of  the  milk  offered  for  pasteurization,  and  they  should  be  em- 
powered to  condemn  all  milk  not  up  to  well  defined,  reasonable 
standards. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  Doubtless  you  remember  that  in  the  census  of 
1900  sixty-six  per  cent  of  our  people  were  living  under  rural 
conditions,  as  defined  by  the  census;  that  is,  in  places  of  8,000 
inhabitants  or  less.  In  the  meantime,  the  trend  towards  the 
cities  has  been  running  strongly.  The  tide  has  been  setting 
strongly  to  the  cities,  so  that  in  the  present  census  I  suppose  the 
figure  will  be  nearer  to  fifty  per  cent.  But  even  that  means  that 
at  least  half  of  our  people  live  in  essentially  rural  conditions. 
Some  of  us  suspect  that  the  milk  supply  of  villages  are  not  al- 
ways, by  any  means,  what  they  ought  to  be,  especially  those  of  us 
who  go  to  the  country  in  the  summer,  and  we  shall,  therefore, 
listen  with  especial  interest  to  Dr.  LeSeur,  Health  Officer  of  Ba- 
tavia,  New  York,  who  will  speak  to  us  on  this  subject. 

DR.  LESEUR  spoke  as  follows: 

MILK  SUPPLY  OF  VILLAGES 

I  have  no  doubt  that  the  majority  of  you  are  feeling  very 
much  as  the  little  boy  felt  who  had  been  attending  a  religious 
service  with  his  parents.  At  this  service  several  very  pro- 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  79 

found  addresses  had  been  given,  and  the  little  fellow  was  listen- 
ing with  a  great  deal  of  interest,  so  far  as  he  was  able  to  ap- 
preciate the  addresses.  When  the  last  speaker  came  upon  the 
platform  to  deliver  his  address,  he  began,  "And  now  what  shall 
I  say?"  The  little  fellow  back  there  at  the  end  of  the  audi- 
ence said,  "Say  Amen."  And  I  have  no  doubt  you  feel  that  if 
I  were  to  say  "Amen"  to  the  magnificent  presentation  of  facts 
that  we  have  had  this  evening,  and  leave  you  to  consider  those 
facts  in  their  relation  to  your  milk  supply,  I  would  have  said 
perhaps  all  that  could,  in  reason,  be  said  to  an  audience  which 
has  listened  as  patiently  and  as  interestedly  as  you  have  to 
these  addresses  which  have  been  so  very  worthy  of  your  care- 
ful attention. 

I  cannot  pass  to  the  consideration  of  the  subject  assigned 
to  me  without  expressing  my  profound  appreciation  of  the 
work  which  has  been  done  by  your  committee.  Do  not  imagine 
that  because  you  are  isolated,  some  of  you,  so  far  as  Boston  or 
"Chicago,  that  you  are  entirely  out  of  the  range  of  observation 
of  the  little  country  town.  We  are  noting  the  work  that  you 
are  doing,  and  are  profoundly  interested  in  it,  because  it  af- 
fects so  large  a  part  of  our  population. 

Do  not  imagine,  either,  because  the  late  census  shows  that 
more  of  you  are  gathered  in  this  little  village  of  New  York 
than  in  all  the  rest  of  the  State,  that  you  are  entirely  free  from 
the  dangers  which  naturally  come  to  those  who  receive  a  large 
part  of  the  milk  supply  from  outside  of  the  city  in  which  they 
live.  Therefore,  the  problem  of  milk  supply  is  one  of  great 
interest  to  you. 

I  had  a  paper  to  be  read,  that  I  was  going  to  read  to  you 
somewhat  at  length,  but  the  hour  is  late,  and  I  promise  you 
that  I  am  not  going  to  read  all  this  to  you.  But  I  have  a  few 
suggestions  that  have  occurred  to  me  with  regard  to  the  milk 
supply  of  villages. 

I  appreciate  the  honor  conferred  upon  me  by  the  chairman 
of  your  committee  on  this  conference  upon  milk  problems  of 
the  State  of  New  York,  under  the  auspices  of  the  New  York 
Milk  Committee,  for  I  recognize  the  value  of  milk  as  an  im- 
portant part  of  the  food  of  the  human  family.  Any  effort 
made  for  the  improvement  of  the  quality  supplied  is  worthy  of 
the  attention  of  all  intelligent  citizens.  The  scope  of  this  sub- 


80       CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

ject  is  so  wide  and  has  been  so  intelligently  and  thoroughly 
covered  by  the  essayists  who  have  presented  the  various  phases 
of  the  topic  assigned  them,  that  my  work  must  necessarily  be 
limited,  and  is,  by  request  of  the  chairman  of  the  committee, 
to  be  brief. 

The  topic  assigned  me,  "The  Milk  Supply  of  Villages,"  is 
one  which  has  not  been  given  the  care  to  which  it  is  entitled,  for 
it  is  a  recognized  fact  that  not  only  is  the  milk  supply  of  vil- 
lages a  part  of  the  food  of  the  villages,  but  the  environments 
of  the  smaller  villages  furnish  the  milk  supply  for  the  larger 
villages,  towns  and  cities.  I  note  in  regard  to  the  milk  supply 
of  villages,  first,  that  there  is  inadequate  supervision  of 
the  supply.  Little  or  no  suitable  attention  is  given  to  the 
milk  supply  by  the  health  officers  of  the  respective  villages. 
It  is  altogether  too  little  thought  of  by  the  health  officers  of 
the  respective  villages.  Milk  is  brought  in  convenient,  rather 
than  suitable  receptacles,  and  is  distributed  too  often  in  that 
which  is  easier,  rather  than  that  which  is  best,  in  the  form  of 
receptacle.  There  is  inadequate  supervision  of  the  milk  sup- 
ply of  villages  by  the  consumers.  The  organization  of  this 
New  York  Milk  Committee  is  the  outgrowth  of  the  feeling 
among  the  more  intelligent  citizens  and  their  physicians  that 
supervision  of  the  milk  supply  is  an  important  matter,  and 
that  it  is  not  at  present  properly  supervised.  There  should 
be  throughout  the  state  in  every  village,  under  the  direction  of 
some  competent  authority  and  by  some  competent  organizer, 
consumers'  leagues  whose  duty  it  should  be  to  know  that  the 
milk  supply  is  adequately  supervised  in  all  the  stages  of  its 
production  from  the  pasture  to  the  pail  and  from  the  pail  to 
the  palate  of  the  consumer. 

Again  the  milk  supply  of  villages  lacks  intelligent  care  with 
reference  to  buildings  in  which  the  cows  are  kept.  Too  often 
tumble  down  sheds  with  filthy  surroundings  are  the  homes  of 
the  cows  that  supply  milk  to  villages.  There  is  lack  of  intel- 
ligent care  of  the  animals  themselves.  Their  food  and  water 
is  not  as  carefully  provided  as  it  should  be.  Too  often  the 
cows  go  down  to  the  swamp  and  after  a  hole  has  been  cut  in 
the  ice,  drink  the  dirty  water  standing  there,  and  from  that 
make  our  milk  supply.  They  lie  in  stables  that  are  filthy  and, 
a  part  of  their  excrement  is  transferred  to  the  udder  and  from 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  81 

thence  to  the  milk  pails,  and  so  on  to  our  tables  and  the  bodies 
of  our  families.  This  could  be  prevented  by  intelligent  super- 
vision. 

Again,  the  servants  employed  in  caring  for  the  cows  that 
furnish  our  milk  are  not  compelled  to  be  tidy  in  their  persons 
or  clothing.  It  is  not  an  easy  matter  to  secure  this  necessary 
care  on  the  part  of  farm  hands,  but  it  is  possible  by  the  ex- 
ercise of  authority  and  the  use  of  intelligence,  and  I  think  all 
will  agree  that  "it  is  a  consummation  most  devoutly  to  be 
wished." 

Again  the  pure  food  law  should  be  amplified  in  its  scope  so 
as  to  include  the  protection  of  our  milk  supply,  and  by  the 
addition  of  penalties  even  more  drastic  than  those  now  pro- 
vided, prevent  any  form  of  adulteration.  Penalties  should  be 
made  more  severe  for  the  contamination  of  milk  by  any  form 
of  dirt  or  filth.  The  number  of  the  various  bacteria  should 
be  subjected  to  an  even  more  rigid  inspection  and  complete 
combination  than  is  possible  under  the  existing  law. 

Again,  the  law  should  be  more  thoroughly  enforced  by  an 
intelligent  public  sentiment.  I  apprehend  that  one  of  the 
purposes  of  this  convention  is  the  dissemination  of  knowledge 
among  the  masses  in  order  to  aid  in  the  creation  of  an  over- 
whelming public  sentiment  in  favor  of  the  protection  of  our 
milk  supplies  at  whatever  cost.  It  is  most  important  that 
this  work  be  prosecuted  with  the  utmost  vigor,  and  every  pos- 
sible means  used  to  enlist  the  sympathy  of  the  consumers  of 
milk,  for  so  many  selfish  interests  are  arrayed  against  any  ad- 
vancement in  this  direction  that  it  is  only  by  the  united  efforts 
of  the  intelligent  consumers  that  we  may  hope  for  the  ac- 
complishment of  this  greatly  to  be  desired  object.  Thought- 
ful citizenship  is  a  necessity  in  the  consummation  of  this  work, 
for  until  the  citizens  of  the  state  realize  how  important  this 
matter  is  and  how  necessary  it  is  for  every  individual  con- 
sumer to  lend  his  aid  in  this  direction,  we  cannot  hope  to  win 
in  this  important  battle. 

To  recapitulate,  then,  we  conclude  that  the  milk  supplies  of 
villages  at  present  have  inadequate  supervision,  first  by  the 
health  officers,  and  by  the  consumers ;  second,  that  there  is 
a  lack  of  intelligent  care  of  buildings,  animals  and  servants 
furnishing  the  milk  supply ;  third,  that  the  pure  food  law  must 


82       CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

be  amplified  to  prevent  adulteration  and  contamination,  and 
the  law  enforced  by  public  sentiment  which  can  only  be  the 
outgrowth  of  thoughtful  citizenship. 

I  do  not  subscribe  to  the  doctrine  of  my  very  distinguished 
friend  from  the  West,  that  the  city  cow  is  to  be,  even  in  the 
far  distant  future,  an  established  part  of  our  domestic  econ- 
omy. I  can  see  certain  economic  and  certain  mathematical 
and  certain  social  difficulties.  The  difference  between  the  size 
of  the  denticular  orifice  in  a  newly  born  infant,  and  the  well 
developed  udder  of  the  mature  cow,  would  make  that  rather 
difficult  in  cases  unless  there  shall  be  a  great  modification  in 
breeding.  And  I  imagine  that  the  great  difference  in  the 
number  of  children  and  the  number  of  cows  in  a  given  com- 
munity would  give  rise  to  a  difficulty  that  could  not  be  very 
well  overcome,  for  my  experience  in  the  feeding  of  children  is 
that  they  require  to  be  fed  at  about  the  same  time  of  the  day, 
and  I  can  see  a  difficulty  that  would  arise  in  the  order  of  prec- 
edence as  the  children  came  up  for  their  feeding.  Of  course, 
I  do  not  mean  to  imply  that,  in  the  development  that  is  possi- 
ble in  the  cities  of  the  west,  these  things  may  not  come  about. 
These  things  may  finally  be  overcome,  but,  for  the  present,  al- 
though it  is  a  consummation  most  devoutly  to  be  wished,  it 
seems  to  me  that  it  lies  so  far  in  the  dim  and  distant  future 
that  the  practical  carrying  out  of  it  is  impossible. 

Our  distinguished  Health  Commissioner — and  I  yield  to  no 
man  in  my  admiration  for  the  magnificent  work  that  he  is 
doing  throughout  the  State — on  the  platform  this  evening,  in- 
dicated that  the  advertising  of  the  quality  of  the  milk  would 
go  a  long  way  towards  the  abolition  of  the  difficulties  which 
lie  in  the  securing  of  a  suitable  supply.  I  may  be  pardoned  if 
I  have  the  presumption  to  suggest  that,  in  addition  to  that 
which  is  in  itself  doubtless  highly  beneficial,  there  would  lie 
this  difficulty:  If  the  milk  was  advertised  in  the  market,  why, 
the  cheaper  products  would  be  the  very  milk  upon  which  the 
poor  people  would  take  the  gambling  chance,  and  thereby  be 
liable  to  increase  the  death  rate.  So  I  think  we  must  not  only 
insist  upon  having  the  milk  marked  and  the  receptacles  guar- 
anteed and  sealed  under  state  supervision,  but  we  must  inflict 
such  penalties  for  the  violation  of  the  law  that  protects  us 
from  adulteration,  as  shall  make  it  a  misdemeanor  and  a  crime 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  83 

to  furnish  anything  but  absolutely  clean  milk.  And  that,  like 
the  domestic  cow,  is  far  in  the  future,  and  it  is  only  by  the  eye 
of  faith,  perhaps,  that  we  can  see  it.  But,  by  the  grace  of 
God  and  the  intelligence  of  the  American  citizen;  and  by  just 
such  work  as  this  Committee  here  in  New  York  is  doing;  and 
by  our  help  up  the  State,  if  we  can  get  the  farmers  to  wake  up 
to  the  importance  of  the  work ;  and  by  the  aid  of  such  a  Com- 
missioner of  Agriculture  as  we  have  heard  to-day ;  and  by  the 
enactment  of  such  laws  as  we  know  ought  to  be  enacted;  that 
thing  can  be  and  will  be  brought  about. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  I  see  that  this  room  is  full  of  persons  who  are 
eager  to  discuss  these  questions,  and  experts  are  here  by  the 
dozen.  The  hour,  however,  is  very  late,  and  with  your  permis- 
sion and  that  of  the  Chairman  of  the  Committee,  I  am  going  to 
call  upon  only  one  of  these  experts,  as  representing  you  all,  and 
that  is  Dr.  Rosenau,  late  Chief  of  the  Hygienic  Laboratory  of  the 
United  States  Public  Health  and  Marine  Hospital  Service  in 
Washington  and  now  professor  of  Preventive  Medicine  and  Hy- 
giene in  Harvard  University,  to  talk  to  us  for  five  minutes  or  so 
upon  the  points  which  have  been  made  here  to-night.  Dr.  M.  J. 
Rosenau. 

DR.  ROSENAU  spoke  as  follows: 

I  thank  you  for  calling  upon  me,  but  it  seems  to  me  that  the 
hour  is  such  that  milk-imbibing  citizens  should  be  about  to  retire. 
Our  pail  of  milk  to-night  has  been  filled  with  instruction  and  elo- 
quence, and  anything  that  I  might  add  would  make  it  slop  over 
at  this  juncture. 

I  want  to  say,  as  long  as  I  am  on  my  feet,  Mr.  Chairman,  that 
I  want  to  congratulate  you  upon  gathering  around  you  this  gal- 
axy of  authorities  and  orators,  who  have  both  entertained  and 
given  us  instruction  to-night.  It  has  been  a  great  satisfaction  to 
me,  as  I  know  it  must  have  been  to  the  rest  of  the  audience,  to 
notice  the  unanimity  with  which  the  danger  has  been  pointed  out 
and  the  methods  for  its  correction.  Pasteurization  is  not  pro- 
posed as  a  method  to  atone  for  filth,  nor  it  is  proposed  to  bolster 
up  the  dirty  milk  and  make  milk  marketable  that  is  otherwise  un- 
fit for  consumption,  but  as  a  temporary  expedient  that  is  neces- 
sary on  account  of  the  conditions  that  we  have  to  meet. 

I  think,  in  all  the  remarks  that  we  have  listened  to,  there  was 
only  one  kind  of  milk  mentioned.  There  is  a  milk  that  should 
be  spoken  of  before  the  evening  is  out,  and  that  is  that  milk 


84       CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

which,  in  order  to  arrive  at  the  co-operation  which  is  necessary 
and  has  been  dwelt  upon  and  emphasized  by  almost  every  speaker, 
it  is  necessary  to  inject  into  this  subject — the  milk  of  human  kind- 
ness. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  I  will  ask  Dr.  Wile  to  present  a  series  of  reso- 
lutions which  he  has  prepared,  and  which  I  am  sure  you  will  be 
glad  to  consider  and  probably  approve.  Dr.  Wile. 

DR.  IRA  S.  WILE,  Chairman  Conference  Committee:  Mr.  Chair- 
man and  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  I  just  wish  to  correct  one  state- 
ment that  the  Chairman  has  made.  These  resolutions  have  merely 
passed  through  the  hands  of  the  speaker,  and  were  not  prepared 
by  him.  In  order  that  there  might  be  harmony  in  action,  and  in 
order  that  no  resolutions  might  be  proposed  that  seemed  to  result 
from  some  man's  wearing  a  chip  on  his  shoulder,  it  was  decided 
to  eliminate  the  personal  equation  in  the  introduction  of  resolu- 
tions. These  resolutions  have  gone  through  the  hands  of  the  Reso- 
lution Committee,  and  for  that  reason  no  one  knows  whence  they 
came  nor  why,  but  I  trust  we  shall  know  why  they  go  and  whither. 
The  first  resolution,  Mr.  Chairman,  is  as  follows: 

WHEREAS,  16,000  babies  die  annually  in  New  York  City,  of 
which  number  4000  are  killed  by  bad  milk  and  improper  food, 
and 

WHEREAS,  there  are  500,000  children  in  New  York  City 
under  five  years  of  age,  whose  future  health  and  strength  will 
depend  in  large  measure  upon  their  proper  nourishment  and 
development  during  childhood,  and 

WHEREAS,  pure  milk  is  the  most  important  food  in  the  diet 
of  these  children,  now,  therefore,  be  it 

Resolved,  That  the  problem  of  securing  a  clean,  safe  milk 
for  babies  and  yoUng  children  is  the  most  immediate  and  press- 
ing problem  confronting  the  health  authorities  of  this  City, 
and  be  it  further 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  sense  of  this  conference  that  steps 
should  be  taken  to  label  milk  so  that  mothers  will  know  what 
milk  is  safe  for  their  babies  and  what  milk  they  must  avoid. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  sense  of  this  conference  that  milk 
from  tuberculin  tested  cows  kept  under  conditions  which  satisfy 
the  highest  medical  and  sanitary  standards  is  safe  for  babies 
in  a  raw  state. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  sense  of  this  conference  that  milk 
from  cows  which  have  been  physically  examined  for  tubercu- 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  85 

losis,  and  are  kept  on  farms  which  score  at  least  75  per  cent 
by  the  Health  Department  methods,  although  not  so  desirable 
as  raw  milk  as  above  described,  is  safe  for  babies  if  pasteur- 
ized at  a  temperature  not  lower  than  140  degrees  F.  and  for 
a  time  not  less  than  twenty  minutes ;  provided  such  milk  has  a 
bacteriological  count  not  higher  than  100,000  per  cc.  before 
pasteurization  and  not  less  than  10,000  per  cc.  after  pasteur- 
ization. 

Resolved,  That  it  is  the  sense  of  this  conference  that  all 
other  milk  is  not  safe  for  babies ;  that  it  should  be  pasteurized 
as  above  described;  and  that  it  should  be  recommended  for 
cooking  purposes  only  and  not  for  drinking  purposes. 

Resolved,  That  this  conference  recommend  to  the  New  York 
Health  authorities  that  an  effort  be  made  immediately  to  se- 
cure a  quantity  of  milk  of  Grades  1  and  £  above  described, 
sufficient  for  the  500,000  infants  and  children  under  five  years 
of  age  in  New  York  City. 

(On  motion,  duly  seconded,  the  resolution  was  presented  for 
discussion.) 

A  VOICE:  Mr.  Chairman,  there  are  hundreds  of  farmers  to-day 
ready  to  produce  certified  milk  if  they  can  get  the  price.  The 
hardest  thing  to  find  to-day  in  the  City  of  New  York  is  the  man 
who  will  buy  certified  milk  and  pay  our  price  for  it.  Now,  if  the 
people  will  pay  the  price  for  milk,  it  does  not  require  anything 
further,  but  the  minute  you  ask  the  price  for  the  goods  that  they 
can  be  produced  for  and  brought  to  the  City  of  New  York,  the 
City  of  New  York  is  up  in  arms.  Last  year  was  no  exception. 
Every  man  was  up  in  arms  because  he  was  charged  9  cents  a  quart 
for  milk. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  I  believe  there  is  a  great  deal  in  what  the 
speaker  says,  and  I  only  wish  that  he  had  discussed  or  had  had 
an  opportunity  to  discuss  these  papers  somewhat  earlier.  Un- 
doubtedly the  price  question  is  of  prime  importance,  as  I  have  my- 
self two  or  three  times  this  evening  remarked,  and  as  other  speak- 
ers have  remarked. 

Are  there  any  remarks  germane  to  this  resolution? 

DR.  G.  LLOYD  MAGRUDER  of  Washington,  D.  C. :  Mr.  Chair- 
man, I  would  like  to  ask  you  for  the  reading  again  of  that  first 
classification. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  I  will  ask  Dr.  Wile,  who  is  familiar  with  it,  to 
read  it. 


86  CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

(The  resolution  was  again  read  by  Dr.  Wile.) 

MR.  MAGRUDER:  Mr.  President,  I  am  not  quite  in  favor  of  vot- 
ing for  that  classification,  because  the  mere  fact  of  having  it  free 
from  tubercle  bacilli  and  keeping  it  cold  is  not  an  absolute  guar- 
anty that  that  milk  is  safe.  We  have  had  it  shown  to  us  here 
this  evening  that  that  kind  of  milk  is  not  absolutely  safe  milk, 
because  there  are  so  many  other  conditions  that  affect  the  milk, 
such  as  a  bacillus  carrier  and  diseased  persons  around  the  milk. 
If  we  can  have  a  bacteriological  examination  of  the  employees 
at  the  dairies,  of  their  feces,  of  their  urine,  and  their  other  ex- 
cretions, so  as  to  know  that  they  are  free  from  a  hanging  on  of 
diphtheria,  typhoid  fever  and  other  diseases,  why,  then  we  could 
safely  take  that  classification.  If  we  could  also  be  sure  that  that 
milk  was  free  from  the  streptococcus,  then  we  might  take  it.  We 
all  know,  who  have  kept  pace  with  these  things,  that  the  strep- 
tococcus is  a  very  serious  infection.  We  know  that  to  children  it 
is  very  dangerous,  and  that  the  danger  is  so  pronounced,  as  you 
well  know,  that  in  Boston  Dr.  Rosenau  and  others  are  investigat- 
ing the  influence  of  the  streptococcus  upon  infant  feeding.  The 
same  matter  is  referred  to  the  Department  of  Agriculture  at  the 
present. 

The  mere  fact  of  a  tuberculin  test,  keeping  it  safe,  keeping  it 
cold  and  inspecting  it,  does  not  guarantee  it.  We  have  got  to 
have  it  partially  cooked.  A  perfect  pasteurization — 140  degrees 
for  twenty  minutes — is  the  only  means  that  will  give  us  the  safe 
milk. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  Are  there  any  other  remarks? 

MR.  ALEXANDER  CAMPBELL:  Mr.  Chairman,  it  seems  to  me  that 
these  resolutions  are  so  important  and  the  hour  is  so  late  that  they 
cannot  receive  the  consideration  which  they  deserve.  We  have 
been  delighted  in  listening  to  the  gentlemen  here,  and  it  seems 
to  me  that  a  question  of  this  character  should  have  a  little  more 
deliberation. 

As  to  certified  milk,  there  is  more  certified  milk  being  made  to- 
day than  there  is  a  demand  for.  It  is  very  easy  to  pass  resolu- 
tions, but  what  are  you  going  to  do  with  the  milk  if  the  people 
don't  want  it.  We  are  producing  milk  to-day  at  large  expense  and 
there  isn't  a  man  who  is  producing  it  that  is  getting  his  expenses 
out  of  it.  Now,  you  talk  about  educating  the  people — 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  (Interposing)  Will  you,  then,  move  an  amend- 
ment? 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  87 

MR.  CAMPBELL:  I  am  not  prepared  for  it.  I  would  like  to  have 
time  to  think  carefully  over  this  matter. 

Now,,  we  have  had  certified  milk  before  the  community  here  for 
the  last  five  or  six  years.  The  doctors  are  supposed  to  be  trying 
to  educate  the  people,  but  I  believe  that  you  will  use  your  life 
up  before  you  have  much  effect  on  the  people.  When  you  go  be- 
fore the  people  with  milk  the  first  question  they  ask  you  is:  "What 
is  the  price?" 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  Are  there  any  other  remarks?  If  not,  are 
you  ready  for  the  question? 

(The  motion  was  not  carried  and  the  resolution  was  rejected.) 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  Is  it  the  wish  of  the  Committee  that  these 
should  be  separated  at  all,  one  from  another? 

DR.  WILE:  No,  just  as  it  was  presented. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  Dr.  Wile  has  other  resolutions  to  propose. 

DR.  WILE:  In  regard  to  the  remark  made  by  Mr.  Campbell  as 
to  the  hour  being  late,  we  should  remember  that  the  result  of  a 
conference  is  usually  to  confer  and  go  out  and  forget  it,  and  then 
the  conference  is  ended.  Now,  in  order  to  crystallize  the  senti- 
ment, either  for  or  against  certain  things,  and  that  we  may  deter- 
mine the  consensus  of  opinion  of  this  conference,  these  resolutions 
are  offered.  As  interpreted  by  resolutions,  it  stands  merely  for 
the  concensus  of  opinion  of  this  particular  group,  and  no  more. 
Consequently,  I  do  not  know  just  how  far  the  state  legislatures 
will  be  moved  by  what  may  be  enacted  here  to-night.  But  if  this 
group  conferring  on  milk  questions  comes  out  positively  and  unani- 
mously in  favor  of  certain  definite  things  through  the  adoption  of 
resolutions  they  may,  at  least,  be  the  basis  of  securing  more  ef- 
fective legislation  along  various  lines. 

The  second  resolution  is  as  follows: 

"WHEREAS,  There  is  a  great  duplication  of  effort  in  the 
work  of  country  milk  inspection  resulting  in  a  multiplicity  of 
inspections  by  State  Boards  of  Health,  State  Boards  of  Agri- 
culture and  Inspectors  sent  out  by  municipalities,  be  it 

"Resolved,  That  it  is  the  sense  of  this  conference  that  the 
work  of  country  milk  inspection  be  carried  on  by  states  and 
not  by  municipalities,  and  that  municipalities  adopt  minimum 
standards  and  refuse  to  accept  milk  which  falls  below  these 
standards,  and  be  it  further 


88       CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

"Resolved,  That  it  is  the  sense  of  this  conference  that  the 
methods  of  milk  inspection  carried  on  by  states  should  be  uni- 
form." 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  You  have  heard  this  resolution.  What  is  your 
pleasure  ? 

(It  was  moved  and  seconded  that  the  resolution  be  adopted.) 

DR.  EVANS:  I  dislike  very  much  indeed  to  occupy  your  time  at 
this  late  hour,  and  yet  it  would  seem  to  me  that  that  is  a  resolu- 
tion which,  if  it  were  to  be  effective  beyond  the  State  of  New  York, 
might  be  productive  of  consequences  that  were  not  of  the  best.  I 
have  in  mind  a  place  in  which,  in  order  to  decrease  the  activity 
of  local  inspection  on  the  part  of  the  municipalities,  it  was  de- 
liberately decided  that  the  thing  to  do  was  to  bring  about  state 
inspection.  That  legalized  state  inspection,  according  to  the  ju- 
dicial decisions  in  that  state,  would  operate  to  remove  the  police 
power  or  control  of  the  municipalities  over  the  milk  and  place  it 
in  the  hands  of  the  state,  and  would  also  bring  it  back  again  into 
the  hands  of  the  state.  It  was  thought  that  the  state  inspection 
would  be  crippled  by  making  improper  or  inadequate  provisions 
therefor. 

Generally  speaking,  the  municipalities  respond  to  the  point  of 
view  of  the  consumer,  and  the  states  very  frequently  respond  to 
the  point  of  view  of  the  producer,  and  unfortunately  this  point 
of  view  at  times  has  been  the  only  point  of  view.  I  believe  that 
in  certain  states  of  the  union,  at  least,  a  more  active  and  more 
comprehensive  inspection  will  be  had  if  it  is  done  by  the  munici- 
palities than  if  it  is  done  by  states.  Now,  I  think  that  that  is 
all  right  for  the  State  of  New  York,  in  all  probability.  It  repre- 
sents your  judgment  in  this  state  and  is  quite  acceptable  for  this 
state.  But  I  dislike  very  much  indeed  to  have  it  go  forth  as 
representing  the  views  of  this  meeting  as  to  what  is  best  in  all  of 
the  states  or  in  states  other  than  the  state  that  you  have  immedi- 
ately in  mind. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  Are  there  any  further  remarks?  If  not,  are 
you  ready  for  the  question? 

(The  motion  was  lost  and  the  resolution  was  rejected.) 
THE  CHAIRMAN:  Are  there  other  resolutions? 
DR.  WILE:  The  next  resolution  is  as  follows: 

"Resolved,  That  it  is  the  sense  of  this  conference  that  milk 
should  not  be  retailed  loose,  but  should  be  sold  in  bottles." 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  89 

DR.  SHREVE,  Atlantic  City:  I  would  like  to  inquire  what  that 
means?  Does  it  apply  to  milk  that  is  retailed  or  wholesaled;  how 
is  that? 

DR.  WILE:  That  which  is  retailed.  It  does  not  apply  to  that 
which  is  wholesaled  in  the  cans. 

DR.  SHREVE:  Then,  should  there  not  be  something  in  the  reso- 
lution to  limit  that? 

DR.  WILE:  The  word  "retailed"  is  used  in  it. 

(The  resolution  was  again  read.) 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  I  suppose  that  means  that  it  should  not  be  sent 
out  to  the  consumers  in  cans  and  put  into  the  consumers'  recep- 
tacles, and  so  forth.  I  take  it  that  it  means  that  the  milk  should 
be  bottled  milk  when  it  reaches  the  consumer.  It  is  rather  a  wide 
proposition,  gentlemen.  Many  of  these  are  rather  wide,  but  I  am 
only  the  presiding  officer.  It  is  my  duty  to  put  these  before  you. 

A  VOICE:  I  am  from  a  little  town  called  Carney,  in  west  New 
England.  We  have  an  ordinance  in  that  town  covering  retailing, 
wholesaling,  etc.,  which  provides  that  no  milk  shall  be  sold  in 
stores  or  by  wagon  unless  it  is  thoroughly  bottled  before  the  sell- 
ing. We  do  not  allow  it  to  be  sold  in  receptacles  of  any  descrip- 
tion. I,  therefore,  move  the  adoption  of  the  resolution.  (The 
motion  was  duly  seconded.) 

DR.  HARDING,  Cornell  University:  It  seems  to  me  that  in  the 
present  state  of  our  milk-handling  proposition,  at  least  in  the 
smaller  cities,  the  sale  of  milk  in  bottles  is  the  weakest  part  of  our 
health  regulations,  because  the  bottles  come  from  the  typhoid  cases 
and  go  back  to  the  bottling  department  with  no  adequate  washing, 
and  there  they  are  refilled  and  go  out  to  other  consumers.  To  im- 
properly treat  the  bottle  is  the  most  dangerous  feature  of  our 
present  milk  handling,  at  least  in  the  smaller  cities  of  the  state. 
Unless  the  bottle  proposition  is  safeguarded  by  restrictions  re- 
gairding  the  proper  handling  of  bottles,  it  looks  to  me  to  be  a  fal- 
lacious resolution. 

MR.  BURLINSON:  Mr.  Chairman,  I  represent  a  considerable  num- 
ber of  small  milk  dealers,  and  I  would  like  to  add  to  what  the  last 
speaker  has  said,  in  behalf  of  the  City  of  New  York,  that  the  bot- 
tled milk  would  be  quite  a  detriment  and  would  be  hurtful  to  the 
health  of  the  people  were  it  forced  upon  the  people  generally  for 
one  particular  reason:  It  is  well  known  that  in  delivering  milk 
at  the  various  residences  the  milk  is  left  at  times  in  the  hallways, 
which,  as  far  as  a  fear  of  warmth  is  concerned,  are  perfect  ovens. 
The  milk  is  left  there  in  the  small  hours  of  the  morning,  from  2 
to  3  or  4  or  5  o'clock,  and  possibly  it  gets  into  the  hands  of  the 


90       CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

housekeeper  at  6  or  7  o'clock,  but  sometimes  not  before  8  or  9 
o'clock. 

Not  only  that,  but  the  milk  that  is  delivered  in  bottles  is,  as  a 
general  thing,  held  in  the  house  without  ice  until  quite  late  in  the 
evening,  when  the  child,  before  it  retires,  is  forced  to  drink  this 
milk. 

Now,  then,  on  behalf  of  loose  milk,  or  canned  milk,  as  it  is 
commonly  known,  I  should  say  that  it  is  possible  for  the  house- 
keeper to  get  that  milk  in  small  quantities,  even  as  little  as  2  or 
3  cents'  worth,  here  in  New  York,  and  to  use  it  just  as  soon  as  it 
is  taken  into  the  house. 

So,  without  taking  up  any  more  of  your  time,  as  I  might  very 
well  do  in  this  connection,  I  will  say  that  I  think  that  there  is  a 
great  deal  to  be  said  in  behalf  of  the  loose  milk,  or  the  canned,  as 
against  the  bottled  milk. 

MR.  CAMPBELL:  I  must  say  that  I  am  rather  surprised  at  the 
remarks  of  the  last  speaker  in  opposition  to  bottled  milk.  The 
great  cry  has  been  that  loose  milk  should  not  be  permitted  to  be 
sold  in  certain  stores  that  it  is  now  being  sold  in,  from  the  fact 
that  it  is  exposed  to  an  atmosphere  which  is  not  of  the  best,  and 
especially  during  the  hot  weather,  when  the  flies  are  pretty  thick 
and  the  cans  remain  on  the  floor  without  any  ice  to  protect  them 
and  no  cover  on  them,  so  that  any  one  who  pleased  could  come  up 
and  help  himself. 

I  think  the  bottle  has  proven  that  it  has  been  the  only  safe 
method  of  delivering  milk  to  the  family.  How  are  you  going  to 
deliver  loose  milk  to-day  to  the  consumer?  You  have  to  leave  it 
in  an  open  pail.  You  have  to  dip  it  out  of  an  open  can.  Your 
driver  has  to  hold  his  hands  over  it  when  it  is  pouring  rain  and 
take  the  cover  off  the  can  and  allow  the  drippings  from  the  rain, 
off  his  hands  and  off  his  clothing,  to  get  into  the  milk. 

I  think  I  know  something  about  the  bottle  question.  I  had 
the  credit  of  putting  the  first  glass  milk  bottle  upon  the  market 
more  than  thirty  years  ago.  I  built  the  first  creamery  in  the 
United  States  that  ever  shipped  bottled  milk  to  the  market,  and 
I  have  had  the  pleasure,  not  only  in  this  country  but  in  Europe, 
of  seeing  a  great  deal  of  bottled  milk  served,  and  I  think  it  is  ap- 
preciated. Of  course,  it  should  be  properly  bottled.  No  milk 
should  be  bottled  unless  the  bottles  are  thoroughly  sterilized.  That 
fact  is  understood  and  accepted,  and  I  think  that  every  responsi- 
ble dealer  to-day  is  equipped  with  the  very  best  facilities  for  that 
purpose. 

I  am  more  than  amazed  to  find  any  intelligent  gentleman  here 
proposing  that  milk  be  delivered  in  such  a  way  that  you  can  go 
out  and  get  it  by  the  2  or  3  cents'  worth  after  it  is  exposed,  in 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  91 

the  majority  of  cases,  to  a  very  bad  atmosphere  in  the  City  of  New 
York,  where  it  is  sold. 

A  VOICE:  The  resolution  does  not  say  anything  about  where 
that  milk  shall  be  bottled.  If  you  can  sell  it  in  bottles,  regard- 
less of  where  or  how  it  is  bottled,  a  man  can  buy  a  can  of  milk, 
put  it  into  his  wagon  and  bottle  it  as  he  goes  about  the  city.  I 
have  seen  milkmen  bottle  their  milk  as  they  go  along.  They  will 
take  it  and  serve  it  to  one  and  pour  it  out,  and  come  back  and  fill 
up  the  same  bottle  and  give  it  to  another.  If  the  resolution  stated 
where  the  milk  should  be  bottled  or  that  it  should  be  bottled  at 
the  creamery,  that  would  be  different.  If  it  said  that  it  should 
be  bottled  at  the  place  of  production  before  it  is  sent  to  the  city, 
that  would  be  all  right,  but  simply  bottling  does  not  amount  to 
anything  in  the  way  of  a  precaution. 

MR.  CAMPBELL:  I  think,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  that  would  be  cov- 
ered by  adding  an  amendment  to  the  resolution  that  no  milk  shall 
be  delivered  in  bottles  unless  they  are  properly  sterilized. 

MR.  BALLOU,  Washington:  I  move  that  the  resolution  be 
amended  by  inserting  the  word  "proper"  before  the  word  "bot- 
tling." 

(The  amendment  was  duly  seconded.) 

DR.  J.  W.  LESEUR,  Health  Officer,  Batavia,  New  York:  I  only 
want  to  remark  that  I  have  heard  it  suggested  by  a  distinguished 
sanitarian,  who  lives  a  long  way  west  of  New  York,  that  the  time 
is  not  far  distant  when  thermos  bottles  will  be  provided  at  a  price 
that  will  be  within  the  reach  of  the  masses. 

A  VOICE  :  Just  a  word.  It  seems  to  me  that  that  is  a  very  large 
phase  of  a  large  proposition,  which  is  very  loosely  joined  and  very 
loosely  jointed.  I  think  it  would  be  a  mistake — and  I  say  this 
without  intending  to  criticise  either  side — to  pass  upon  it  at  this 
late  hour  with  so  little  consideration. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  Are  there  any  further  remarks?  The  ques- 
tion is  upon  the  amendment,  namely,  to  insert  the  word  "proper" 
before  "bottled,"  so  that  it  shall  read  "proper  bottles."  Are 
you  ready  for  the  question  upon  the  amendment? 

MR.  BALLOU:  Mr.  Chairman,  I  meant  "proper  bottling"  and  not 
"proper  bottles,"  so  that  it  shall  read  "that  the  proper  bottling." 

A  VOICE:  If  the  poor  cannot  pay  7  cents  a  quart  for  the  milk, 
how  are  they  going  to  pay  for  the  bottling,  when  that  will  amount 
to  1  cent  a  quart  alone? 

The  question  being  called  for,  a  vive  voce  vote  was  had. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  The  Chair  is  in  doubt.  I  will  ask  those  in 
favor  to  hold  up  their  hands,  and  those  opposed  to  do  likewise. 
The  ayes  appear  to  have  it. 


92       CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

The  motion,  then,  is  amended  to  read,  "Resolved  that  it  is  the 
sense  of  this  Conference  that  milk  should  not  be  retailed  loose, 
but  should  only  be  sold  after  proper  bottling."  I  think  I  have  the 
sense  of  that,  at  any  rate,  if  not  the  exact  form.  Are  there  any 
remarks  upon  the  motion?  Are  you  ready  for  the  question? 

A  viva  voce  vote  was  taken. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  Again  the  Chair  is  in  doubt.  All  those  in 
favor  are  requested  to  hold  up  their  hands,  and  those  opposed 
to  do  likewise.  The  ayes  have  it,  and  the  motion  prevails,  as 
amended. 

DR.  WILE:  The  last  resolution  to  be  presented,  I  presume,  will 
create  just  as  much  enthusiasm  as  those  which  have  gone  before. 
The  best  part  of  these  resolutions  lies  in  the  fact  that  they  pro- 
mote just  the  discussion  that  we  are  having.  These  resolutions 
are  not  framed  to  be  passed.  That  was  not  the  purpose  of  the 
committee  in  entertaining  the  resolutions.  The  purpose  was  that 
of  having  the  practical  crystallization  of  sentiment  along  some 
line,  after  discussion.  Whether  or  not  the  resolutions  are  adopted 
in  no  way  concerns  the  one  who  is  introducing  them,  nor  does  it 
matter  to  the  committee  that  has  passed  upon  them,  nor  does  it 
matter  to  the  New  York  Milk  Committee,  nor  to  any  other  organi- 
zation that  I  know  of.  But  the  results  of  your  discussions  here 
are  all  being  carefully  taken  down  by  the  stenographer  and  will 
be  preserved  for  future  generations. 

The  last  resolution,  Mr.  Chairman,  is: 

"Resolved,  That  it  is  the  sense  of  this  conference  that  the 
sale  of  milch  cows  which  have  not  been  tuberculin  tested  and 
found  free  from  tuberculosis  should  be  prohibited  throughout 
the  United  States." 

My  attention  has  just  been  called  to  a  question  that  might  be 
present  in  the  minds  of  some  of  you.  This  does  not  mean  that 
the  use  of  cows  for  the  purposes  of  beef  is  in  anywise  interfered 
with,  but  cows  for  the  production  of  milk.  That  is  the  intent 
and  purpose  of  this  resolution. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  You  have  heard  the  resolution.  What  is  your 
pleasure? 

(It  was  moved  and  seconded  that  the  resolution  be  adopted.) 

MR.  CAMPBELL:  I  would  like  to  ask  if  you  will  be  good  enough 
to  have  the  resolution  read  again. 

(Resolution  again  read.) 

MR.  CAMPBELL:  That  would  be  a  good  thing  to  pass  if  you 
want  us  all  to  go  out  of  the  milk  business. 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  93 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  Are  there  any  other  remarks? 

MR.  DANA:  I  am  President  of  the  Western  New  York  Milk 
Producers'  Association.  I  have  been  somewhat  amused  in  listen- 
ing to  the  resolutions  that  have  been  passed  here  to-night.  I  am 
just  a  plain  farmer,  and  I  may  not  know,  but  it  seems  to  me  that 
we  have  turned  down  those  propositions  that  have  been  sanctioned 
by  the  best  authorities  for  years  as  being  good.  We  have  turned 
down  the  proposition  of  certified  milk  and  left  us  at  sea.  Our 
eminent  and  distinguished  men  come  here  and  turn  down  the  propo- 
sition of  bottling  milk,  and  the  idea  that  it  is  better  to  bottle 
milk  in  the  street  and  to  open  the  cans  in  the  street,  because,  for- 
sooth, some  man  might  not  sterilize  his  bottles. 

Now,  we  are  coming  to  the  proposition  that  all  cows  offered 
for  sale  in  the  United  States  shall  be  tuberculin  tested.  Now,  the 
great  trouble  with  that  thing  is  this:  We  are  up  against  the  prac- 
tical proposition  of  furnishing  milk  to  the  cities  of  this  state  at  a 
living  price.  It  is  not  denied,  as  far  as  the  contaminations  are 
concerned,  that  the  tuberculin  test  is,  perhaps,  ninety-eight  per 
cent  accurate,  but  I  appeal  to  any  of  you  gentlemen  as  to  whether 
there  has  been  an  adequate  post  mortem  examination  to  prove  how 
accurate  it  is  when  it  passes  an  animal. 

The  facts  are  these:  An  animal  passes  to-day,  and  to-morrow 
she  does  not  pass.  I  tuberculin  test  my  herd  to-day,  and  next 
year  I  test  it,  and  the  next  year  I  test  it,  and  an  animal  is  thrown 
out  with  lesions  that  it  does  not  need  a  veterinarian  to  tell  are  old 
lesions.  Those  lesions  exist  and  the  cow  passes  test  twice  or  three 
times  anyway.  I  can  mention  numbers  of  instances  in  this  state 
where  men  who  had  kept  their  herds  absolutely  clean  came  up 
against  the  proposition  of  a  twenty-five  per  cent  reaction. 

Now,  gentlemen,  the  proposition  before  us  is  that  all  cattle 
must  be  tuberculin  tested.  As  a  milk  producer,  I  want  to  get 
behind  that  idea  that,  as  far  as  practical  work  goes,  there  is  only 
one  safeguard  that  will  allow  the  City  of  New  York  or  any  other 
city  to  have  milk  at  a  reasonable  cost,  and  that  is  proper  pas- 
teurization. 

In  the  last  few  years  cows  have  cost  us  an  advance  of  from 
$40  to  $80.  You  test  these  cows  and  they  will  cost  us  from  $100 
to  $150  and  cannot  be  had.  You  test  the  cows  of  the  State  of 
New  York  to-morrow  and  only  allow  those  cattle  to  be  put  into  the 
dairies  that  pass  the  tuberculin  test,  and  there  aren't  cows  enough 
in  the  State  of  New  York  to  produce  your  milk.  There  aren't  cat- 
tle enough  in  the  United  States  to  produce  your  milk.  And  if  you 
think  the  farmers  of  the  State  of  New  York  and  the  farmers  of 
the  other  states  are  fools  enough  to  go  on  and  do  it  merely  pro 


94       CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

bono  publico,  you  are  mistaken.  We  have  got  some  business  sense 
and  we  have  got  to  stand  forth  and  protect  ourselves. 

If  you  want  the  best  milk  that  care  and  vigilance  and  precau- 
tion can  produce,  the  farmers  of  the  State  of  New  York  and  the 
dairymen  of  the  State  of  New  York  are  willing  and  anxious  to 
produce  such  milk,  if  you  will  only  give  us  a  living  price  for  it. 
Cornell  University  has  gone  over  the  state  and  ascertained  the 
returns  from  the  dairy  farms  and  other  farms,  and  the  poorest 
paid  men  working  on  the  farms  in  the  State  of  New  York  to-day 
are  the  dairymen. 

A  VOICE:  I  move  to  strike  out  all  after  the  word  "Resolved" 
and  to  put  in  lieu  thereof  "That  the  interstate  commerce  of  all 
cows  not  tested  with  tuberculin  shall  be  prohibited." 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  Will  you  kindly  state  that  again? 

A  VOICE:  That  the  interstate  commerce  of  all  cows  shall  be 
prohibited  unless  they  are  free  from  tuberculosis,  as  far  as  the 
tuberculin  test  and  a  physical  examination  may  determine. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  I  ask  the  Speaker  to  repeat  his  resolution,  be- 
cause I  didn't  quite  understand  it,  and  I  am  not  sure  that  I  do  yet. 
I  am  inclined  to  think  it  is  out  of  order,  because  it  absolutely 
changes  the  sense  of  the  whole  resolution. 

A  VOICE:  I  offer  that  as  an  amendment. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  It  would  amend  so  absolutely  against  the  sense 
of  the  resolution  as  to  change  it  entirely. 

MR.  CAMPBELL:  I  move  that  we  continue  the  discussion  to-mor- 
row, and  go  home. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  This  motion  is  also  out  of  order;  are  you  ready 
for  the  question? 

(The  motion  was  lost  and  the  resolution  was  rejected.) 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  It  is  lost.     Are  there  other  resolutions? 

DR.  WILE:  No,  Mr.  Chairman. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  The  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Resolu- 
tions informs  me  that  these  are  all  the  resolutions  he  has  to  of- 
fer, and  I  hereby  declare  this  conference  adjourned. 

An  adjournment  was  taken  until  Saturday  afternoon,  December 
3rd,  at  2  o'clock. 


THIRD  SESSION 

Saturday  afternoon,  December  3,  1910,  2  o'clock. 

DR,  WM.  H.  PARK,  Presiding. 
SUBJECT,  MILK  STANDARDS. 

MR.  STEPHEN  G.  WILLIAMS:  Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  will  you 
please  come  to  order? 

The  first  part  of  the  program  will  be  devoted  to  some  film  pic- 
tures, with  the  title  "The  Man  Who  Learned,"  illustrating  the 
milk  supply  as  we  get  it,  and  as  we  may  get  it.  I  am  sorry  to 
say  that  Dr.  Lederle,  who  was  to  preside  at  this  meeting  this  aft- 
ernoon, has  been  unable  to  attend,  but  Dr.  William  H.  Park,  whom 
you  all  know,  will  preside  in  his  place,  and  will  read  Dr.  Lederle's 
paper.  I  take  pleasure  in  introducing  Dr.  William  H.  Park,  pre- 
siding Chairman  of  the  afternoon. 

May  I  ask  you  all  to  be  good  enough  to  write  your  names  in  this 
book,  which  we  will  have  handed  around,  so  that  we  will  know 
who  has  been  present  at  these  conferences. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  (Dr.  William  H.  Park)  Ladies  and  gentlemen: 
I  commiserate  you  that  I  have  to  stand  here  in  Dr.  Lederle's  place, 
and  I  also  ask  you  to  commiserate  me  that  I  have  to  try  to  tell 
his  views,  but  I  will  try  to  carry  on  the  exercises  as  if  he  had  been 
here.  Fortunately,  I  have  his  statement,  that  he  was  to  have  made 
here  this  afternoon,  though  it  is  in  a  somewhat  abbreviated  form. 

Now,  the  first  in  order,  I  believe,  is  a  moving  picture  to  show  us 
how  clean  milk  is  produced,  as  contrasted  with  other  kinds. 
(Moving  pictures  were  here   presented.) 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  I  believe  all  of  you  appreciated  that  motion 
picture,  and  it  really  is,  to  my  mind,  a  very  true  picture.  I  re- 
member, some  three  years  ago,  that  I  went  to  one  of  the  rural  re- 
sorts for  a  short  time,  where  my  sister  was  staying,  and  I  noticed 
that  no  one  drank  the  last  drops  in  his  glass  of  the  dairy  farm 
milk,  and  the  reason  was,  that  even  a  glassful  showed,  while 
standing  on  the  table,  a  very  perceptible  amount  of  manure  in  the 
bottom.  When  I  went  out  to  look  at  the  milking,  I  saw  uncleanli- 
ness  greater  even  than  that  shown  in  the  picture,  but  my  friends 
and  relatives  asked  me  not  to  do  anything,  because  they  were  hav- 
ing a  very  happy  time  at  this  farmhouse  and  didn't  care  to  bring  in 
any  friction.  Now,  that  milk  was  fresh  and  there  was  no  disease 

9.5 


96       CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

there.  Although  none  of  the  children  of  the  farm  came  to  any 
harm,  that  milk,  after  coming  to  New  York,  would  tell  an  en- 
tirely different  story. 

I  remember  also  another  day  when  I  went  up  on  the  Harlem 
Railroad.  We  had  been  using  some  milk  in  the  laboratory  on 
some  kitten  experiments,  and  the  kittens  had  died  while  on  the  milk, 
and  I  went  up  near  Pawling  to  see  the  conditions.  That  was  in  July, 
and  I  found  that  milk  being  delivered  into  express  cars,  with  the 
doors  open,  and  with  no  ice,  and  at  a  temperature  away  above 
ninety,  and  that  milk  came  to  the  City  that  way.  Now,  it  seems  to 
me  that  pictures  like  these  will  cause  thousands  of  us  in  the  City 
to  demand  better  things.  It  will  make  those  in  the  country  realize 
that  this  milk  is  not  in  the  physical  condition,  when  it  goes  to  the 
children  in  New  York,  that  it  is  when  it  goes  to  the  children  on  the 
farm.  As  Dr.  Rosenau  said  last  night,  we  need  to  add  to  the 
other  kinds  of  milk,  the  "Milk  of  Human  Kindness,"  and  there- 
fore we  must  remember  that  if  we  had  to  get  up  at  three  or  four 
o'clock  in  the  morning,  we  might  not  always  be  sweet  tempered  and 
do  right,  and  we  might  forget  the  infants  that  were  taking  our 
milk.  But  we  must  protect  our  milk,  and  we  must  insist  upon  their 
giving  us  good  milk,  and  I  am  sure  that  with  proper  reiteration, 
we  will  find  that  they  will  do  the  proper  thing.  Now,  I  have 
here  a  short  statement  which  is  believed  to  represent  Commis- 
sioner Lederle's  ideas.  He  expected  fully  to  be  here  this  after- 
noon, but  at  the  last  minute  he  telephoned  to  me,  from  his  country 
place,  that  he  could  not  come,  as  he  was  not  well  enough,  and 
he  asked  Mr.  Burton  and  me,  to  put  together  what  we  knew  to  be 
his  ideas,  from  talking  it  over  with  him  within  the  last  week.  So 
I  believe  I  am  giving  his  ideas  in  these  few  pages,  although  they 
have  been  put  together  by  Mr.  Burton  and  me,  Mr.  Burton  being 
in  charge  of  the  country  milk  inspectors,  under  Mr.  Raynor,  who 
is  in  charge  of  the  Country  Division.  This,  as  I  say,  sets  forth 
the  Commissioner's  ideas,  so  far  as  we  know  them  from  conversa- 
tions during  the  past  few  days. 

THE  PRESENT  METHOD  OF  SANITARY  CONTROL  OF 
NEW  YORK  CITY'S  MILK  SUPPLY 

The  ideal  aimed  at  by  the  Department  of  Health  of  this 
city — the  ideal  on  which  every  effort  of  the  Milk  Inspection 
Corps  is  centered,  is  to  have  the  milk  supply  a  safe  supply. 
"Certified"  and  "Guaranteed"  Milk,  I  believe,  need  no  defense. 
Such  milk  from  tuberculin  tested  cows,  handled  by  persons  free 
from  disease,  bottled  on  the  farm  in  sterile  containers,  kept 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  97 

cold,  delivered  fresh,  and  having  a  minimum  bacterial  content, 
is  reasonably  safe  milk.  "Certified"  Milk,  however,  represents 
less  than  1%  of  the  total  supply  of  milk  for  this  city.  The 
problem,  therefore,  is  to  make  reasonably  safe  the  other  99  %• 
This  supply  comes  from  44?,000  farms  located  in  six  states  from 
points  ranging  from  50  to  4*00  miles  from  the  city.  Thirty- 
three  Inspectors  are  detailed  to  the  regular  inspection  of  the 
dairy  farms  supplying  the  1,600,000  quarts  of  milk  which  are 
shipped  daily  to  New  York. 

The  dairies  where  less  than  50%  of  sanitary  requirements 
exist,  are  excluded. 

A  veterinary  certificate  is  required  from  each  dairyman  an- 
nually, showing  that  an  examination  has  been  made  of  the 
dairy  herd  and  that  all  animals  found  diseased  upon  a  physical 
examination,  have  been  removed.  Every  dairyman  reports 
weekly  the  presence  of  any  infectious  disease  on  the  dairy  farm. 
These  are  all  investigated  by  Medical  Inspectors,  to  see  that  all 
precautions  have  been  taken  to  protect  the  milk  from  con- 
tamination. 

Such  inspection  is  essential,  and  that  work  must  go  on,  but 
is  that  milk  safe?  Knowing  as  we  do  that  a  physical  exam- 
ination does  not  remove  from  a  dairy  herd  those  animals  which 
are  a  menace  to  the  milk;  knowing  as  we  do  that  in  cases  of 
disease,  there  is  an  uncertain  period  of  incubation  during  which 
time  precautions  are  not  always  taken;  knowing  that  after  an 
illness,  there  is  an  uncertain  period  of  convalescence;  and 
knowing  further  that  in  the  case  of  typhoid,  there  are  carriers 
of  contagion, — which  carriers,  being  intermittent  carriers,  we 
cannot  protect  ourselves  or  the  milk  against.  I  believe  that 
it  is  our  duty  to  make  this  vast  milk  supply  safe,  and  to  pro- 
tect it  from  these  many  factors  of  contamination  by  careful 
and  perfect  pasteurization. 

The  duty  of  the  Health  Department  in  its  relation  to  the 
Milk  Supply  has  to  do  mainly  with  the  death  rate,  especially 
the  death  rate  among  infants.  The  milk  supplies  just  outlined 
give  to  all  the  option  of  two  safe  supplies  for  babies'  use,  and 
I  believe  that  through  the  press  and  every  other  avenue  of 
publicity,  this  statement  should  be  given.  "Milk  safe  for 
babies  must  be, — Grade  No.  1 — 'Certified'  or  'Guaranteed' 
Milk,  which  may  be  fed  raw.  Grade  No.  2 — Pasteurized  Milk, 


98       CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

and  further  that  safe  pasteurized  milk  for  babies  should  be 
milk  produced  on  farms  where  at  least  75%  of  the  sanitary 
requirements  have  been  complied  with."  Such  milk  should  not 
contain  more  than  100,000  bacteria  per  cc.  before  pasteuriza- 
tion; should  be  heated  to  at  least  140  degrees  F.  for  at  least 
20  minutes,  and  should  not  contain  more  than  10,000  bacteria 
per  cc.  when  offered  for  sale. 

Now,  as  I  say,  these  are,  as  far  as  Mr.  Burton  and  I  know,  ex- 
actly the  Commissioner's  ideas.  I  am  personally  very  sure  that  they 
are.  I  myself  just  added  a  note  under  bacteriological  count.  Of 
course,  in  making  these  various  bacterial  standards,  we  do  not 
mean  that  fifteen  thousand  bacteria  are  necessarily  any  more 
harmful  than  ten  thousand.  What  we  mean  is  that  milk  properly 
cared  for  and  properly  pasteurized  cannot  have  more  bacteria 
than  that.  That  is,  the  bacteria  are  not  so  much  what  you  might 
call,  definitely,  a  danger,  but  they  are  a  detective,  they  detect 
conditions,  and  those  conditions,  in  many  respects,  are  brought  to 
our  attention  better  by  the  bacterial  count  than  in  any  other  way, 
because  we  can  go  over  a  thousand  farms  in  one  afternoon's  work, 
while  inspectors  can  cover  only  a  few.  This  is  one  means,  as  I 
say,  of  detection.  I  personally  believe  that  the  bacteria,  in  them- 
selves, when  present  in  too  great  a  quantity  and  of  the  wrong 
types,  are  a  very  distinct  danger,  and  these  standards  are  made  to 
represent  conditions  under  which  they  detect. 

I  am  very  sorry  indeed  that  Dr.  Lederle  is  not  here,  to  give 
you  in  a  better  way  and  more  fully,  the  opinions  which  the  paper 
that  I  have  read  is  meant  to  represent. 

We  now  have  other  speakers,  and  I  am  glad  to  say  that  they  are 
here  to  go  on  with  the  work.  We  all  know  the  great  work  that 
the  experiment  stations  are  now  doing  in  these  lines,  and  I  am 
very  glad  indeed  that  this  conference  is  opened  by  Dr.  VanSlyke, 
Chemist,  State  Experiment  Station,  Geneva,  N.  Y.  Dr.  VanSlyke. 

DR.  VANSLYKE   spoke  as  follows: 

USEFULNESS  AND  LIMITATIONS  OF  SO-CALLED 
MILK  STANDARDS 

LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN  :  I  wish  to  say  that  the  worst  pic- 
tures that  were  thrown  on  the  screen  a  short  time  ago  were 
really  short  of  the  truth  in  a  great  many  cases.  I  was  born 
in  the  country,  and  if  there  is  any  one  who  can  give  me  points 
on  the  condition  of  dairies,  from  an  unsanitary  standpoint,  I 
would  like  to  see  him.  Before  I  became  a  chemist,  I  remember 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  99 

that  my  test  for  milk  was  to  examine  the  bottom  of  the  tum- 
bler before  I  drank  it,  and  it  was  not  many  years  ago  that  I 
realized  that  it  was  possible  for  milk  to  be  free  from  the  taste 
which  is  characteristic  of  the  odor  of  the  stable.  I  supposed, 
for  a  great  many  years,  that  one  of  the  normal  flavors  of  milk 
was  that  characteristic  of  the  stable,  but  I  have  learned,  within 
the  last  ten  or  fifteen  years,  that  that  is  not  a  normal  con- 
stituent or  a  normal  flavor,  but  that  good  milk  is  absolutely 
free  from  anything  that  is  offensive  in  the  slightest  way  to  a 
normal  taste. 

It  is  the  purpose  of  this  paper,  not  so  much  to  discuss  with 
completeness  the  subject  under  consideration  as  to  make  an 
introduction  which  may  serve  as  a  basis  for  discussion. 

It  is  now  generally  recognized  that  the  value  of  milk  as 
human  food  depends  upon  two  classes  of  factors:  (1st)  chem- 
ical composition,  by  which  we  mean  the  thirty  or  forty  com- 
pounds normally  contained  in  milk;  and  (2nd)  freedom  from 
everything  that  tends  to  affect  injuriously  the  health  of  con- 
sumers, whether  micro-organisms,  or  toxins,  or  preservatives. 

Up  to  about  ten  years  ago  the  first  set  of  factors  served  as 
the  chief  center  of  discussion ;  since  then  the  emphasis  has  rap- 
idly shifted  to  the  second  set  of  factors.  Formerly  pure  milk 
meant  simply  normal  or  unadulterated  milk;  now  it  means 
rather  milk  biologically  clean.  The  present-day  discussions 
might  easily  lead  an  uninformed  layman  to  think  that  milk 
consists  simply  of  water  and  solids,  the  chief  solids  being  dirt 
and  bacteria  and  leucocytes. 

When  requested  to  take  part  in  this  conference,  it  seemed 
to  the  speaker  that  it  might  serve  a  useful  purpose  to  discuss 
briefly  some  phases  of  milk  purity  from  the  old-fashioned  stand- 
point of  chemical  constituents.  A  discussion  of  legal  defini- 
tions, or  so-called  standards  of  pure  milk  should  be  peculiarly 
pertinent  just  now,  in  view  of  the  fact  that  the  late  legislature 
of  this  state  changed  the  legal  definition  which  had  been  in 
force  for  about  a  generation.  Formerly,  milk  as  normally 
produced  by  cows  was  regarded  as  pure  or  unadulterated  when 
it  contained  not  less  than  &  per  cent  of  milk- fat  and  12  per 
cent  of  total  milk-solids.  The  recent  change  retains  the  min- 
imum limit  of  &  per  cent  for  fat  but  lowers  the  percentage  re- 
quired for  total  milk  solids  from  12  to  11.50. 


100      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

Let  us  now  consider  the  immediate  causes  leading  to  this 
change  and  also  some  of  the  objections,  especially  in  relation 
to  the  way  in  which  the  change  affects  the  interests  of  con- 
sumers and  producers. 

The  immediate  and  chief  cause  which  made  this  change  pos- 
sible was  the  fact  that  some  dairymen  persisted  in  keeping 
herds  of  cows  whose  milk  frequently  contained  less  than  12 
per  cent  of  milk  solids ;  they  were  producing  milk  for  quantity 
and  not  quality.  They  were  simply  watering  their  milk 
through  the  agency  of  their  cows.  It  was  possible  for  such 
dairymen  to  meet  the  condition  confronting  them  in  one  of 
two  ways:  (1st)  By  keeping  cows  that  would  produce  milk 
of  legal  composition,  or  (2nd)  by  appealing  to  the  legislature 
to  lower  the  limit  required  for  milk-solids.  They  chose  the 
second  method  as  being  the  easiest  and  cheapest.  It  was  pos- 
sible to  accomplish  their  purpose  because  there  was  a  quite 
general  misunderstanding,  or  perhaps  lack  of  understanding 
of  the  facts  upon  which  the  former  legal  definition  was  based; 
this  was  true  not  only  of  dairymen  but  particularly  of  mem- 
bers of  the  legislature.  These  details  we  cannot  take  time  to 
discuss  here,  but  attention  may  be  called  to  one  point  to  show 
how  imperfect  was  the  general  understanding  of  what  is  meant 
by  the  expression,  milk  standard.  Milk  which  meets  legal  re- 
quirements in  composition  is  commonly  but  erroneously  spoken 
of  as  "standard"  milk  in  the  sense  that  it  is  necessarily  of  ex- 
cellent quality  in  respect  to  the  amount  of  fat  and  solids  pres- 
ent. Now,  milk  which  comes  just  within  the  legal  requirements 
is  emphatically  not  excellent  in  quality,  but  it  is  in  reality  poor 
and  far  below  the  average  of  normal  milk  in  composition. 
While  we  commonly  see  such  expressions  as  the  "State  milk 
standard,"  "standard  for  pure  milk,"  "legal  milk  standard," 
"milk  of  the  state  standard  of  excellence,"  they  are  used,  if 
properly,  not  as  implying  excellence  at  all,  but  rather  as  ex- 
pressing positive  inferiority,  or  the  lowest  possible  standard 
or  limit  that  the  law  permits  for  pure  or  normal  milk.  The 
expression  "legal  definition  of  pure  milk"  is  preferable  be- 
cause much  less  liable  to  mischievous  misinterpretation  than 
expressions  in  which  "standard"  is  used  in  a  way  to  permit  the 
possible  implication  of  excellence. 

Before  considering  in  detail  the  objections  to  reducing  the 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE,,     ,  101 

limit  of  milk  solids  from  12  to  11.50  per  cent,  we  will  mention 
briefly  some  of  the  more  important  general  principles  that  have 
formed  a  basis  in  fixing  minimum  limits  of  purity  for  market 
milk. 

In  legally  defining  normal  or  pure  milk  on  the  basis  of  its 
percentage  composition,  it  has  been  customary  to  select  two 
factors,  fat  and  solids,  and  to  fix  for  each  the  lowest  permissi- 
ble limit.  Two  different  factors  have  been  selected,  because 
more  complete  protection  is  obtained  than  if  one  alone  were  used 
since  the  percentage  of  fat  and  of  solids  are  somewhat  inde- 
pendent and  do  not  vary  together  uniformly.  For  example, 
taking  normal  milk  containing  5  per  cent  of  fat  and  14.5  per 
cent  of  solids ;  it  would  require  the  addition  of  66  pounds  of 
water  to  100  pounds  of  normal  milk  before  the  percentage  of 
fat  is  reduced  to  the  lowest  legal  limit  of  3  per  cent,  but  the 
addition  of  only  £1  pounds  of  water  would  reduce  the  solids 
below  the  permissible  limit  of  12  per  cent  and  the  diluted  milk 
would  still  contain  4  per  cent  of  fat.  The  basis  of  solids  in 
addition  to  fat  affords,  therefore,  added  protection  against 
dilution  by  water. 

Now,  the  chief  purpose  of  a  legal  definition  of  normal  milk 
or  of  adulterated  milk  is  to  prevent,  or  rather  limit,  the  two 
most  common  forms  of  adulteration  (1)  addition  of  water  and 
(2)  reduction  of  fat  percentage  by  removal  of  cream  or  by 
addition  of  skimmilk.  It  is  possible,  however,  within  certain 
limits,  to  manipulate  milk  rich  in  fat  both  by  watering  and  by 
skimming  or  addition  of  skimmilk  so  that  it  is  difficult  and  often 
impossible  to  prove  the  fact  of  such  manipulation  by  examina- 
tion of  the  milk. 

It  is  thus  seen  that  in  attempting,  on  the  basis  of  fat  and 
solids,  to  fix  a  line  of  division  between  milks  that  shall  be  re- 
garded as  pure  and  as  adulterated,  two  general  difficulties  are 
met,  because  normal  milk  varies  so  widely  in  composition,  and 
the  relation  of  fat  to  solids  also  varies  decidedly.  On  the  one 
hand,  the  lowest  limits  for  purity  must  be  placed  high  enough 
to  prevent  too  great  opportunity  for  manipulating  milks  above 
average  richness  by  watering  or  skimming.  On  the  other  hand, 
the  minimum  limits  must  not  be  placed  so  high  as  to  put  in  the 
class  of  adulterated  milk  the  normal  product  of  too  many  herds 
of  cows.  In  framing  a  practicable  legal  definition  for  milk, 


••••  .'*         \  ;::<:: 
102  .  CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

these  two  difficulties  cannot  be  fully  met,  and  an  arbitrary  line 
of  division  must  be  drawn. 

Whether  or  not  the  preceding  statements  have  been  made 
with  satisfactory  clearness,  time  does  not  permit  a  more  de- 
tailed discussion  of  the  points  touched. 

We  will  now  consider  some  of  the  valid  objections  that  may 
reasonably  be  brought  against  the  adulteration  of  our  legal 
definition  of  pure  milk,  by  which  the  minimum  requirement  of 
12  per  cent  of  milk-solids  has  been  degraded  to  11.50  per  cent. 

(1)  It  makes  not  merely  possible  but  inevitable  an  increased 
opportunity  for  the  manipulation  of  normal  milk  by  means  of 
watering,  removal  of  cream  and  treatment  with  skimmilk.     It 
is  therefore  directly  and  chiefly  in  the  interests  of  those  who 
are  engaged  in  the  business  of  manipulating  milk  after  it  leaves 
the  hands  of  the  producer  and  before  it  reaches  the  consumer. 
For  example,  under  the  requirement  of  12  per  cent  solids,  it  re- 
quires, in  the  case  of  normal  milk  containing  5  per  cent  of  fat 
and  14.5  per  cent  of  solids,  the  addition  of  21  pounds  of  water 
to  100  pounds  of  milk  to  reduce  the  percentage  of  solids  below 
12;  under  the  11.50  per  cent  requirement,  26  pounds  of  water 
can  be  added  to  100  pounds  of  such  normal  milk  before  the 
percentage  of  solids  is  reduced  to  11.50  per  cent.     In  the  case 
of  normal  milk  containing  4  per  cent  of  fat  and  13  per  cent 
of  solids,  it  is  necessary  to   add  8  pounds   of  water  to   100 
pounds  of  milk  before  the  percentage  of  solids  is  reduced  to  12, 
but   13  pounds   of  water  before   11.50  per  cent   of  solids   is 
reached.     Stated  in  more  general  terms,  the  reduction  of  the 
legal  requirement  for  milk  solids   from  12  to  11.50  per  cent 
means  that  in  milks  above  average  composition  it  permits  the 
addition  of  about  5  pounds  more  of  water  per  100  pounds  of 
milk. 

(2)  If  we  are  permitted  to  base  a  judgment  upon  all  past 
experience,    this    opportunity    for   increased   manipulation    of 
normal  milk  will  not  be  wholly  neglected,  and  we  are  justified 
in  looking  for  definite  deterioration  in  the  composition  of  much 
of  our  ordinary  market  milk. 

(3)  Producers  will  be  encouraged  and  justified  in  going  still 
further  in  the  production  of  as  much  milk  as  possible  which  is 
just  above  the  legal  limit  of  11.50  per  cent  of  solids.     The 
production  of  any  article  of  good  grade  has  never  been  en- 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  103 

couraged  by  widening  the  opportunity  for  adulteration.  So  far 
as  the  consumer's  interest  is  concerned,  it  makes  little  differ- 
ence whether  water  is  added  to  milk  through  a  dipper  by  hand 
after  the  milk  leaves  the  cow  or  whether  the  animal  is  made  the 
instrument  of  the  unholy  practice.  It  is  safe  to  predict  that 
if  this  retrograde  change  is  permitted  to  stand,  we  shall  have 
within  a  few  years  many  hundred  more  herds  of  cows  produc- 
ing milk  containing  less  than  12  per  cent  of  solids  than  ever 
before.  It  is  a  special  application  of  the  general  law  that 
water  seeks  its  own  level. 

(4)  Any  condition  that  lowers  the  standard  composition  of 
a    food   product   increases    its    cost   to   the    consumer.     Milk, 
normal  or  otherwise,  containing  11.50  per  cent  of  solids  has 
less  value  for  the  consumer  than  normal  milk  containing  12  per 
cent  of  solids.     The  effect  is  in  reality  to  increase  the  cost  of 
milk  to  consumers.     In  the  recent  political  campaign  the  high 
cost  of  living  was  skillfully  used  as  an  important  factor  in  in- 
fluencing consumers   to   express   their  disapproval   of  present 
conditions  without  any  special  reference  to  actual  causes.     It 
is  somewhat  surprising  that  the  relation  of  this  recent  act  of 
legislation  to  increased  cost  of  living  was  not  discovered  and 
utilized  by  spellbinders  to  promote  still  farther  the  confusion 
of  those  responsible. 

(5)  The  change  was  brought  about  in  the  special  interest 
of  comparatively  few  milk  producers ;  it  was  essentially  a  de- 
mand by  a  few  that  all  other  producers  and  all  consumers  per- 
mit a  change  which  is  against  the  larger  interests  of  the  many. 

(6)  In  this  connection  it  should  be  said  that  the  legal  re- 
quirement of  &  per  cent  of  fat  and  12  per  cent  of  solids  as 
the  minimum   requirement   for  pure  milk  has  been  shown  by 
long  experience  to  be  practicable  and  useful  and  reasonably 
efficient.     This  should  be  restored  as  soon  as  possible.     It  must 
also  be  fully  recognized  that  no  definition  or  minimum  stand- 
ard of  an  article  so  variable  in  composition  as  cow's  milk  can 
by  any  possibility  of  human  ingenuity  be  so  devised  as  to  give 
complete  satisfaction  to  all  producers  and  consumers. 

We  believe  that  the  time  is  fast  approaching,  if  it  is  not 
already  come,  when  our  long-used  method  of  regulating  the 
composition  of  pure  milk  can  be  advantageously  supplemented 
by  introducing  a  method  which  permits  the  sale  of  milk  under 


104      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

a  guaranteed  percentage  composition  of  fat,  or  of  fat  and 
solids  both. 

Time  does  not  permit  anything  more  than  a  brief,  imper- 
fect statement  of  some  of  the  more  obvious  advantages  of  such 
a  system. 

(1)  It  would  encourage  the  sale  of  milk  on  the  basis  of  its 
food  value.  Intelligent  consumers  would  come  to  appreciate 
the  difference  between  poor  milk  and  rich  milk  in  a  way  they 
do  not  at  present. 

(£)  It  would  encourage  the  production  of  a  larger  amount 
of  richer  milk  when  producers  can  sell  milk  on  the  basis  of  its 
value. 

(S)  It  would  readily  find  an  application  in  the  case  of  pro- 
ducers whose  herds  produce  milk  below  the  limits  of  legal  re- 
quirements. By  guaranteeing  its  composition  the  producer 
could  dispose  of  it  for  what  it  is  without  reference  to  the  lim- 
its of  purity  prescribed  by  law. 

(4f)  A  guarantee  system  inevitably  tends  to  promote  greater 
intelligence  regarding  the  composition  and  value  of  milk  on 
the  part  of  both  producers  and  consumers.  Objection  may  be 
raised  that  the  process  of  educating  consumers  about  the  com- 
position and  commercial  value  of  milk  must  be  so  slow  as  to 
be  practically  hopeless,  especially  among  masses  in  large  cities. 
The  same  objection  would  apply  with  even  greater  force  to 
the  education  of  consumers  in  regard  to  the  value  of  sanitary 
milk  and  the  necessity  of  its  care  in  the  home.  The  delivery 
of  clean  milk  in  a  city  home  is  only  one  end  of  the  problem ; 
its  care  after  that  is  quite  as  important,  and  is  a  matter  of 
education.  Because  it  is  a  slow  and  difficult  process  to  teach 
consumers  to  care  for  milk  in  the  home,  it  is  not  a  valid  reason 
why  the  problem  of  supplying  clean  milk  should  be  abandoned. 
Similarly,  the  introduction  of  the  system  of  selling  milk  on  the 
basis  of  guaranteed  composition  should  not  be  indefinitely  de- 
layed merely  because  its  fullest  usefulness  requires  that  milk 
consumers  should  know  something  of  the  relation  of  composi- 
tion to  commercial  value. 

POWDERED    MILK. 

Though  not  strictly  pertinent  to  the  subject  of  this  paper, 
a  word  may  not  be  out  of  place  at  this  time  in  regard  to  pow- 
dered milk.  Several  processes  are  being'  employed.  The 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  105 

product  which  is  familiar  to  the  speaker  comes  into  market  as 
a  very  fine,  dry,  cream-colored  powder.  It  has  a  slight  odor, 
suggesting  the  smell  of  buttered  pop-corn  when  first-class  but- 
ter is  used.  One  pound  of  powder  makes  four  quarts  of  milk, 
containing  about  3J  per  cent  of  fat  and  12.5  per  cent,  or  more 
of  solids.  When  put  upon  the  surface  of  cold  water  and 
stirred  with  a  rotary  egg-beater,  the  powder  goes  into  solu- 
tion rapidly.  The  dissolved  milk  has  a  very  slight  but  not 
unpleasant  taste,  not  present  in  fresh  milk.  If  the  milk  is  very 
cold  this  taste  does  not  appear  to  be  so  noticeable.  Without 
the  addition  of  any  foreign  substance,  the  process  permits  the 
milk  to  retain  its  fundamental  properties ;  the  fat  globules  re- 
tain their  individuality  and  rise  to  form  cream;  the  casein  is 
precipitated  by  the  action  of  rennet ;  the  albumin  is  not  co- 
agulated by  heat ;  the  milk-sugar  does  not  appear  to  be  changed 
in  any  way ;  enzymes  present  in  the  milk  are  not  destroyed. 
The  degree  of  heat  employed  is  sufficient  to  ensure  practical 
destruction  of  all  living  micro-organisms.  It  is  said  that  the 
product  is  good  only  when  made  from  clean,  fresh  milk.  The 
present  retail  cost  is  such  as  to  make  milk  prepared  from  it 
cost  about  10  cents  a  quart.  Without  further  mention  of  de- 
tails, it  is  obvious  that  milk-powder  promises  to  furnish  a  so- 
lution of  some  of  the  vexing  problems  of  milk  supply  in  large 
cities. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  I  think  Dr.  VanSlyke  has  convinced  us  not 
only  of  the  usefulness  of  milk  standards,  but  of  the  necessity  for 
having  experts  who  understand  milk  standards  in  order  to  prevent 
improper  laws  from  passing,  which  those  of  us  who  do  not  know 
the  special  lines,  may  be  utterly  deceived  in,  and  assent  to,  rather 
than  dissent.  I  think  the  point  that  was  brought  out  to-day,  that 
it  makes  no  difference  to  us,  whether  we  add  the  water  or  whether 
the  cow  adds  the  water,  is  putting  it  in  a  very  simple  way.  All 
of  us  know  that  farmers  mix  their  milk.  If  a  farmer  happens 
to  have  some  cows  giving  an  exceptional  amount  of  solids  or  solids 
and  fat  in  the  milk,  he  will  mix  it  with  other  milk  having  an  ex- 
ceptionally low  amount. 

This  interest  in  milk  is  so  large  that  men  have  come  to  this  con- 
ference from  beyond  the  borders  of  the  United  States.  I  am  very 
glad  indeed  that  Dr.  Amyot  is  here  from  Toronto.  He  has  given 
a  great  deal  of  attention  to  this  work,  and  will  give  us  the  next 
paper.  I  am  very  glad  to  be  able  to  introduce  Dr.  Amyot. 


106      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

DR.  JOHN  AMYOT,  Health  Officer,  Toronto,  Canada,  spoke  as 
follows : 

THE  SANITARY  SIDE  OF  THE  MILK  QUESTION 

LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN  :  The  side  of  the  milk  question 
that  I  am  supposed  to  take  up  is  the  sanitary  side.  Cows' 
milk  has  long  been  used  as  a  food.  It  is  practically  a  food 
that  has  been  applied  to  our  needs.  It  is  not  a  food  that  was 
intended  for  the  human  baby  at  all.  It  is  good  food  for  the 
adult,  but  it  is  a  food  which,  when  given  to  babies,  is  given  at 
a  risk.  Cows'  milk  was  not  intended  for  babies.  The  require- 
ments of  the  calf  are  quite  different  from  the  requirements  of 
the  human  body.  Milk  varies  in  its  composition  and  in  its 
characteristics,  according  to  the  animal  that  it  is  intended  to 
feed.  The  seal  gves  a  milk  that  contains  a  very  large  quan- 
tity of  fat — much  more  than  any  of  the  milks  that  we  are  ac- 
customed to.  The  cow  gives  a  much  larger  quantity  of  cal- 
cium salts  than  human  milk  contains.  Now,  it  becomes  neces- 
sary, at  times,  to  feed  the  human  baby  on  cows'  milk,  but  that 
is  done  at  a  risk.  In  this  country  it  is  said  that  the  child 
that  is  fed  on  cow's  milk,  runs  about  four  chances  to  die  to  one 
that  it  would  run  if  it  were  fed  on  its  proper  milk.  Some  go 
so  far  as  to  say  that  it  runs  nine  chances  to  one  to  die  when 
fed  on  cow's  milk.  Now,  that  is  partly  due  to  the  composition 
of  the  milk.  We  all  know  that  we  can  accommodate  ourselves 
to  untoward  conditions.  We  have  a  certain  amount  of  reserve 
in  our  physiological  functions,  that  makes  it  possible  for  us  to 
accommodate  ourselves  to  conditions  around  us.  The  human 
baby  can  accommodate  itself,  but  it  sometimes  fails,  and  un- 
doubtedly a  very  fair  percentage  of  babies  that  die,  artificially 
fed,  die  because  the  food  is  not  suitable  to  them.  But  that  is 
not  the  serious  part  of  it,  because  far  the  greater  number  of 
deaths  in  artificially  fed  babies,  is  from  the  changes  that  take 
place  in  the  food  that  they  are  given,  after  it  has  left  the  cow. 
It  has  been  stated  here  that  only  one  per  cent  of  the  milk  sup- 
ply of  New  York  is  a  certified  milk.  In  other  places,  perhaps 
a  little  larger  percentage  may  have  been  gotten.  You  know 
how  certified  milk  is  produced.  You  start  by  choosing  the 
kind  of  cows  that  are  to  be  used  for  the  production  of  certi- 
fied milk.  Some  times  enough  precaution  is  not  taken,  but 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  107 

precautions  can  be  taken  in  choosing  the  proper  kind  of  cows. 
These  cows  are  examined  carefully  to  see  whether  they  are  suf- 
fering from  any  infectious  diseases.  They  are  tested  to  see 
whether  there  be  any  tuberculosis.  Proper  precautions  are 
taken  to  exclude  any  possibility  of  infectious  diseases  among 
those  people  handling  the  milk  on  the  farm,  and  they  are  kept 
under  strict  hygienic  conditions.  If  a  cow  is  to  be  healthy,  it 
must  be  kept  under  as  good  conditions  as  we  are  ourselves,  or 
even  better.  Then,  the  milk  must  be  collected  in  vessels  that 
are  clean  and  sterilized  by  clean  people,  and  protected  from 
dust,  and  then,  afterwards,  kept  free  from  putrefaction  by 
keeping  the  milk  cold  at  all  times  until  it  is  delivered  to  the 
consumer. 

Now,  that  involves  a  great  deal  of  care  and  precaution.  It 
is  possible  to  get  milk  from  cows  practically  sterile,  with  only 
a  few  bacteria  per  cubic-centimeter.  If  it  is  kept  cold  until  it 
is  delivered,  these  bacteria  are  thus  kept  from  growing,  and  the 
milk  can  be  delivered  to  the  consumer  with  very  little  change 
in  the  number  of  bacteria. 

Now,  that  milk  is  considered  good  safe  milk,  but  there  is 
even  doubt  as  to  that.  A  baby  can  take  that  milk  with  very 
little  risk,  except  that  it  might  not  be  the  proper  kind  of  food 
for  the  baby.  But  what  happens  with  the  other  kind  of  milk, 
that  is  collected  under  all  sorts  of  conditions?  You  saw  those 
pictures  on  the  screen.  They  were  no  exaggeration  at  all. 
You  see  very  much  worse  conditions  when  you  go  around  in- 
specting milk  farms  where  milk  is  produced.  The  cows  are 
herded  together  in  a  dirty  barn  yard,  that  is  not  cleaned  more 
than  once  a  year.  The  water  stands  in  the  yards,  and  the 
cows  get  muddy  all  over,  and  the  cows  are  not  cleaned  until 
their  hair  falls  off,  or  until  they  rub  it  off  on  the  barn  door,  or 
after  they  get  out  to  pasture.  The  stables  are  practically 
never  swept.  The  gross  matter  is  forked  out,  but  the  rest  is 
left  behind.  The  place  is  full  of  cobwebs  and  other  dirt.  The 
hay  comes  down  from  above,  dropping  to  the  floor,  all  over  the 
place.  You  go  into  such  a  place  when  the  cows  are  driven  in, 
and  you  see  dust  flying  all  over  it.  You  can  hardly  recognize 
a  man  at  the  other  end  of  the  stable,  and  it  may  only  be  forty 
feet  long.  The  cans  are  washed  out  without  any  special  pre- 
cautions. A  dipper  full  of  warm  water  is  put  into  them  and 


108      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

swished  around,  and  that  same  dipper  full  is  put  into  another 
can  and  swished  around,  and  that  water  is  dumped  out  of  that 
into  still  another  can.  That  is  about  as  clean  as  the  cans  get, 
frequently;  very  little  more  is  done.  If  they  do  wash  it  out, 
they  put  it  out  in  the  sun  where  the  dust  is  flying,  and  there  it 
remains  until  the  milk  is  put  into  it,  perhaps.  The  man  who 
milks  just  spits  on  his  hands  before  he  milks,  picks  up  a  dirty 
stool,  rubs  the  surface  of  the  cow's  udder,  and  the  dirt  that  he 
gets  on  his  hands  off  the  stool,  goes  into  the  milk,  so  that  the 
milk  which  gets  into  the  pail  is  dirty,  and  no  precaution  is 
taken  with  it.  At  first,  perhaps,  there  are  only  a  few  hundred 
bacteria  per  cubic  centimeter,  but  just  a  few  minutes  later  it 
may  have  fifteen  or  twenty  thousand,  and  sometimes  there  are 
many  more  than  that.  Later  there  arises  that  "cowy"  odor 
which  is  often  incorrectly  taken  as  a  characteristic  odor  of 
pure  milk.  Milk  without  manure  in  it,  does  not  have  that 
"cowy"  taste.  When  that  sort  of  milk  comes  to  town,  you 
put  it  in  a  bottle,  and  the  dirt  settles  at  the  bottom  of  the 
bottle,  and  you  can  see  it.  You  can  see,  in  an  ordinary  pint 
bottle,  a  considerable  sediment  at  the  bottom.  Many  people 
drink  it  without  drinking  the  last  half  inch  of  it.  If  they 
would  only  stop  to  think  what  that  material  is !  Now,  that 
milk  has  gathered  up  bacteria  from  all  sorts  of  sources,  and, 
besides  that,  it  is  not  kept  cool.  If  it  had  been  kept  cool,  it 
would  not  be  so  bad,  because  twenty  or  thirty  thousand  bac- 
teria to  the  cubic  centimeter,  perhaps,  would  not  do  so  much 
damage  to  the  milk.  But  when  it  is  allowed  to  remain  warm, 
that  milk  is  about  as  good  a  culture  medium  for  bacteria  as 
you  could  devise.  Within  five  or  six  hours,  if  the  milk  is  still 
kept  warm,  there  are  millions  of  bacteria.  Now,  when  you  get 
that  number  of  bacteria  in  milk,  you  have  changes  taking  place 
in  the  milk  which  make  it  unfit  for  food.  Milk  is  one  of  the 
most  perishable  foods  that  we  have,  and  that  is  the  reason. 

By  the  time  the  milk  reaches  the  city,  if  no  precautions  have 
been  taken  with  it,  these  bacteria  have  grown  to  millions. 
Now,  one  of  two  things  might  happen.  It  sometimes  happens 
that  those  bacteria  are  not  very  harmful.  They  may  be  lactic 
acid  bacilli,  and  in  the  great  majority  of  cases,  perhaps  nine 
times  out  of  ten,  that  is  what  it  is,  and  the  milk  is  merely  sour 
when  it  arrives,  and  sour  milk  isn't  such  a  deleterious  milk, 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  109 

after  all.  They  prescribe  it  in  the  hospitals,  and  they  add 
lactic  acid  bacilli  to  milk  to  make  it  sour.  In  cheese  making 
it  is  used  regularly  in  the  milk  before  the  milk  has  curdled,  in 
order,  later  on,  to  ripen  the  cheese.  The  cheese  at  first  is 
tough  and  hard,  but  these  bacteria  are  present  in  it,  and  after 
a  week — or  perhaps  three  months — depending  on  the  temper- 
ature, that  cheese  softens  up  and  becomes  ripe.  It  becomes 
ripe  because  of  the  growth  of  these  bacteria  and  the  action  of 
the  enzymes. 

Now,  these  bacteria  are  perhaps  not  very  harmful,  and  per- 
haps not  at  all,  but  we  run  one  chance  in  ten,  perhaps,  that 
those  bacteria  are  putrefactive  ones.  Now,  we  hear  a  great 
deal  about  ptomaine  poisoning.  That  is  what  it  is — the  prod- 
ucts of  putrefactive  organisms  of  various  kinds,  and  we  have 
all  kinds  in  this  milk,  and  we  do  not  know  when  we  are  getting 
one  or  when  the  other,  but  they  are  there  and  they  are  produc- 
ing putrefaction  in  the  milk,  and  it  is  that  putrid  milk  that 
does  the  harm.  A  healthy  individual  might  get  along  very 
well  on  one  or  two  doses  of  putrid  milk,  and  receive  no  harm 
from  it.  We  eat,  sometimes,  "gamy"  food — "gamy"  birds  of 
various  kinds,  but  no  physician  would  ever  prescribe  that  for 
a  nephritic.  Nevertheless,  a  healthy  individual  could  take  it, 
but  it  would  not  be  a  good  diet  for  every  day  in  the  year.  It 
is  the  same  way  with  some  of  those  odorous  cheeses.  You 
would  not  prescribe  one  as  a  regular  diet,  but  you  perhaps  take 
one  to-day  and  another  one  a  few  days  from  now.  Nobody 
would  prescribe  limburger  cheese,  for  instance,  as -a  continu- 
ous diet. 

Now,  there  are  in  such  foods  the  products  of  putrefaction, 
and  when  we  feed  that  material  to  babies,  we  run  a  chance  of 
killing  them.  In  the  winter  time,  perhaps,  it  is  less  dangerous 
than  in  the  summer  time  when  the  heat  commences  to  worry 
them,  and,  perhaps,  a  worrisome  tooth  is  commencing  to  come 
through. 

They  cannot  withstand  these  things  in  their  food  so  well. 
You  know  how  a  little  worrying  will  even  stop  digestion,  for 
the  rest  of  the  day,  and  cause  a  headache  and  bad  humor. 
The  same  thing  happens  with  a  child.  If  a  child  has  teeth 
coming  through,  or  something  of  that  kind  that  disturbs  it,  it 
is  in  an  abnormal  condition.  Give  such  a  baby  putrid  milk 


110  CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

and  there  will  be  trouble.  If  it  is  in  good  health,  it  can  stand 
it,  perhaps,  but  it  cannot  now.  That  is  what  accounts  for  the 
great  mortality  of  infants  in  the  summer  months,  when  these 
things  are  most  likely  to  take  place.  Remove  them  and  you 
stop  the  mortality.  There  is  a  great  mortality  among  babies 
in  the  months  of  July,  August  and  September.  If  you  will  try 
looking  after  the  milk  supply  and  giving  them  fresh  milk, — 
unputrid  milk — you  can  bring  that  mortality  down  to  that  of 
the  other  months. 

Now,  it  is  the  bacteria  getting  into  the  milk  that  causes  the 
putrefaction.  You  will  say,  perhaps,  that  this  does  not  hap- 
pen very  often.  Now,  there  are  places  where  you  can  go  and 
see  where  it  happens.  Those  of  you  who  have  visited  dairies 
where  they  receive  milk  and  send  it  out  to  their  consumers, 
have  seen  all  sorts  of  methods  of  getting  this  dirt  out.  It  is 
surprising  what  they  get  out  sometimes,  on  absorbent  cotton, 
and  screens  of  various  kinds.  You  would  be  astonished  at  the 
dirt  that  you  can  scrape  off  from  the  inside  of  a  can  after  cen- 
trifuging.  Dirt,  manure,  hairs,  pus,  mucus  and  all  such  stuff 
gathers  right  on  the  inside  of  this  centrifuge.  That  is  the 
material  that  comes  out  of  the  milk.  Now,  it  does  not  matter 
whether  the  cows  are  well  taken  care  of  or  not,  that  is  the  sort 
of  thing  you  see.  Now,  we  have  in  our  Province  a  very  active 
agricultural  college.  They  are  trying  to  improve  the  quality 
of  the  cheese  that  is  produced  in  certain  districts.  In  certain 
districts  where  things  are  terrible,  a  cheese  is  produced  in  large 
quantities.  They  have  had  inspectors  there  for  years,  trying 
to  show  the  farmers  how  to  produce  good,  clear  milk.  After 
years,  they  have  produced  what  is  ordinarily  considered  good 
milk.  But  go  into  one  of  those  factories  when  they  centrifuge 
out  fifteen  hundred  pounds  of  cream,  and  see  what  you  get  out 
of  the  centrifuge,  after  all  the  precautions  have  been  taken. 
I  have  seen  cases  of  that  kind,  where  they  took  the  stuff  out  in 
a  scoop  shovel,  and  put  it  into  the  furnace.  That  was  called 
good  milk,  and  it  was  good  milk,  as  you  see  milk — better  milk 
than  you  get  in  the  city  here.  It  was  produced  under  the 
very  best  conditions. 

You  know,  the  whiteness  of  milk  covers — a  multitude  of  sins, 
— I  was  going  to  say.  It  covers  them  up  and  you  cannot  see 
them,  and  you  conclude  that  there  isn't  very  much  in  it.  But 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  111 

it  is  there,  and  it  is  gathered  up  from  a  variety  of  sources,  and 
it  is  the  putrefaction  from  the  growth  of  these  bacteria  that 
does  the  harm. 

That  can  be  largely  obviated  by  having  the  milk  cooled 
immediately  after  it  is  gathered,  and  kept  cold  until  it  is 
delivered  to  the  consumer.  Then  the  consumer  has  to  do  his 
part  of  it.  He  has  to  take  the  responsibility.  It  often  hap- 
pens that  after  milk  is  gathered  as  cleanly  as  possible,  and 
after  many  precautions  are  taken  with  it  before  it  gets  into 
the  hands  of  the  consumer,  the  consumer  does  not  treat  it 
properly.  What  does  he  do?  He  puts  it  upon  his  bureau  or 
leaves  it  on  the  window  sill,  perhaps  for  days,  or  pulls  out  the 
plug  of  the  bottle  and  leaves  it  in  a  dipper  to  undergo  putre- 
faction. The  consumer  should  be  instructed.  It  is  a  hard 
matter  to  get  people  to  take  care  of  milk  properly  after  it  is 
delivered.  You  have  heard  of  Straus's  experience  here.  He 
tried  to  make  them  close  their  bottles,  and  he  couldn't  do  it. 
So  he  made  round  bottomed  bottles  that  could  not  lie  upon  a 
table  until  they  had  put  the  cork  in.  And  then,  often,  they 
emptied  it  out  into  a  tumbler. 

They  did  all  sorts  of  things  to  leave  the  milk  exposed.  A 
good  deal  of  the  damage  is  done  right  there.  Even  if  the  milk 
comes  to  the  consumer  after  many  precautions,  he  has  to  do 
his  share  in  taking  care  of  it.  The  public  ought  to  be  in- 
structed as  to  that  and  I  think  that  is  one  of  the  things  that 
dairymen  ought  to  do.  They  should  send  out  literature  from 
time  to  time  and  take  advantage  of  every  opportunity  for  in- 
structing the  public  in  these  respects.  Even  though  it  is  cer- 
tified milk,  it  should  be  taken  care  of  in  the  house  until  it  is 
used,  just  as  dairymen  take  care  of  it.  It  should  be  kept  cold. 

But  that  is  not  a  very  serious  part  of  the  milk  question — 
not  by  a  good  deal,  although  it  is  bad  enough.  The  serious 
part  of  it  is  that  milk  may  be  a  cause  of  disease.  Now,  there 
are  certain  diseases  that  we  know,  quite  definitely,  that  milk 
can  carry.  First  of  all  is  tuberculosis.  Now,  it  was  thought, 
for  a  good,  long  time,  that  the  bovine  bacillus  and  the  human 
bacillus  were  equally  virulent  to  the  human  being  and  equally 
infectious.  Koch  took  an  opposite  view.  But  later  investi- 
gation has  shown  that  though  the  first  belief  was  not  correct, 
Koch's  statement  also  is  not  correct,  and  that  the  bovine 


112      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

bacilli  can  infect  the  human  being  just  as  the  human  bacilli 
can  infect  cattle. 

Tuberculosis  is  present  in  cattle  to  a  far  greater  extent 
than  we  ordinarily  think.  It  is  said  that  in  Cuba,  where  the 
cattle  are  tested  continuously,  there  is  practically  no  tuber- 
culosis among  cattle,  and  that  the  farther  north  you  go,  the 
more  you  find  it  among  cattle,  until  when  you  get  up  to  the 
St.  Lawrence  River,  you  have  got  up  to  nearly  forty  per  cent 
of  the  cattle  suffering  from  tuberculosis.  Of  course,  you  will 
find  herds  that  do  not,  and  you  will  find  others  that  have  a  very 
large  percentage.  Tuberculosis  is  a  very  destructive  disease 
among  cattle.  It  passes  from  one  to  the  other  very  rapidly. 
Before  you  realize  it,  all  in  your  herd  may  be  infected. 

Now,  to  produce  the  largest  quantity  of  milk  that  they  are 
capable  of,  cows  are  kept  in  barns  and  in  unsanitary  stables, 
where  they  have  big,  long  troughs.  The  cow  at  the  upper  end 
of  the  trough  may  have  tuberculosis  and  infect  the  others  all 
the  way  down.  They  pick  over  the  feed  and  infect  one  another 
in  that  way.  There  is  a  very  large  percentage  of  tuberculosis 
among  dairy  cattle,  and  where  the  dairy  business  is  carried  on 
to  the  greatest  extent,  there  is  where  you  find  the  most  of  it. 
You  say,  "Well,  perhaps,  there  are  only  a  few,  and  the  cows 
that  have  tuberculosis  in  one  part  of  the  body  do  not  have  it 
in  the  milk."  You  have  the  results  of  the  examinations  of 
your  Board  of  Health  h.ere  in  this  city.  Nearly  seventeen  per 
cent  of  a  large  number  of  milk  samples  examined  showed  liv- 
ing tubercle  bacilli, — virulent,  infective,  living  tubercle  bacilli. 
You  will  say  from  that  "Well,  why  isn't  the  whole  population 
infected  with  tuberculosis?"  A  post  mortem  examination  in 
the  general  hospital  of  Montreal,  where  an  ordinary  method 
of  autopsy  is  used,  shows  tuberculosis  in  sixty  per  cent  of 
human  beings.  This,  of  course,  does  not  go  through  the  whole 
body  and  affect  every  gland  there  is.  A  more  delicate  tuber- 
culin test  shows  that  ninety  per  cent  have  it,  and  perhaps  there 
are  more  that  have  lesions  somewhere.  We  won't  all  die  of 
tuberculosis.  We  have  means  of  guarding  ourselves  against 
tuberculosis.  But  yet  the  fact  is  that  about  ninety  per  cent 
of  human  beings  have  tuberculosis — small  lesions,  at  least — and 
we  do  not  all  die  of  it.  It  does  not  always  get  the  upper  hand 
of  us.  We  can  fight  it  off.  But  when  you  consider  that  per- 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  113 

centage,  and  consider  also  the  number  of  milk  samples  that 
have  tubercle  bacilli  in  them,  it  is  not  surprising,  and  it  is 
easy  to  connect  the  two  circumstances  together.  Not  every 
one  who  drinks  down  tubercle  bacilli  will  necessarily  develop 
tuberculosis.  In  one  of  our  western  cities  an  epidemic  of 
typhoid  fever  took  place  from  an  infection  of  the  water  sup- 
ply. Six  thousand  people  were  taken  with  diarrhoea  within 
forty-eight  hours,  having  been  infected,  presumably,  by  sewage 
in  the  water  supply.  Of  those,  four  hundred  and  fifty  devel- 
oped typhoid  fever  afterwards.  Now,  the  probability  is  that 
all  of  those  six  thousand  were  infected,  and  only  four  hundred 
and  fifty  came  down  with  the  disease.  That  sort  of  thing  is 
happening  with  us  every  day.  We  may  be  infected  very  many 
times  but  the  infection  does  not  take  hold  of  us.  We  do  not 
actually  show  the  lesions  of  the  disease.  We  resist  it,  very 
often,  but  there  is  the  danger  of  placing  it  in  our  system. 

What  I  have  spoken  of  at  the  present  time  is  bovine  tuber- 
culosis. But  cattle  are  infected  by  the  human  tuberculosis, 
and  how  many  people  handling  cattle  are  free  from  tubercu- 
losis? Many  of  them  infect  the  cattle,  do  they  not?  If  you 
go  about  examining  and  inspecting  people  that  have  to  do  with 
milk,  you  will  find  men  who  have  tuberculosis  handling  milk. 
There  is  a  good  percentage  of  the  population,  ordinarily,  with 
tuberculosis.  That  is  always  a  possible  source  of  tuberculosis 
in  cattle.  The  human  tubercle  bacillus  is  the  organism  that  is 
more  serious  if  it  gets  into  the  milk.  We  are  more  likely  to 
be  infected  by  the  human  tubercle  bacillus  than  by  the  bovine 
bacillus. 

Then  there  is  typhoid  fever.  There  are  various  sources 
from  which  typhoid  fever  originates,  and  milk  is  one  of  the 
most  fruitful.  There  is  hardly  a  health  officer  in  any  city  on 
the  continent  who  has  not  come  into  contact  with  typhoid,  due 
to  milk.  We  have  it  here  in  New  York  City  and  we  have  it  in 
Toronto  and  we  have  it  in  other  towns.  Cows  do  not  have 
typhoid  fever,  but  cows  can  wallow  around  in  material  that  has 
typhoid  bacilli  in  it  and  they  can  become  infected  and  the 
bacilli  can  thus  get  into  the  milk.  If  there  is  a  typhoid  per- 
son on  the  farm,  what  care  is  taken  with  his  excretions  ?  They 
are  thrown  on  the  lot,  and  if  it  happens  to  be  summer  time, 
the  flies  walk  all  over  it ;  and  if  they  happen  to  fall  near  a  well, 


114      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

they  seep  into  the  water,  and  the  well  is  infected,  and  thus  the 
typhoid  is  spread.  The  typhoid  man  may  actually  wash  the 
cans.  If  a  man  has  typhoid  fever,  his  hands  will  probably  be 
infected  with  typhoid  bacilli,  and  if  he  washes  the  cans  with  a 
few  dipper  fulls  of  water  and  swishes  it  around  with  his  hands, 
he  will,  of  course,  infect  the  cans.  I  know  of  one  case  in  the 
City  of  Hamilton,  Ontario,  where  in  an  outbreak  affecting 
thirty-five  people,  two  deaths  were  due  to  just  such  washing 
out  of  the  can,  in  a  corner  grocery.  There  was  no  typhoid  on 
the  farm  in  this  case.  The  infection  came  from  the  corner 
grocery,  presumably.  It  is  hard  to  get  absolutely  positive 
evidence  in  these  cases.  Typhoid  outbreaks  very  usually  re- 
sult from  using  infected  water  for  washing  out  the  cans. 
You  know  all  the  ways  in  which  water  can  be  infected.  And 
how  many  wells  in  the  country  are  in  decent  condition?  I  was 
going  to  say  that  ninety-nine  per  cent  of  them  are  infected. 
Perhaps  that  is  too  high,  but  I  think  that  it  is  pretty  nearly 
right.  How  often  do  you  go  into  the  country  and  pump 
water  where  you  do  not  hear  the  water  running  and  dropping 
back  into  the  well  again.  I  do  not  mean  that  little  water 
drops  out  of  the  spout  in  the  pump,  to  keep  it  from  freezing,  in 
the  winter,  but  you  can  hear  it  dropping  down  through  the 
boards.  A  man,  perhaps,  has  walked  over  the  lot  where  the 
typhoid  material  is,  and  then  has  come  to  the  well,  and  the  dirt 
from  his  hands  goes  down  through  the  boards  with  the  water 
into  the  well.  Some  wells  in  the  country  have  only  one  board 
on  them,  with  the  pump  tied  to  it.  Toads,  snakes,  mice  and 
everything  else  walk  over  it  and  go  down  the  well.  It  is  the 
common  drinking  place  for  every  animal  on  the  place.  You 
can  hardly  find  a  farm  well  that  is  not  infected.  Sometimes 
they  are  only  dirt  wells.  I  have  seen  them  with  manure  piled 
around  them  to  keep  them  from  freezing  in  the  winter.  That 
is  not  uncommon. 

The  condition  of  the  bottles  as  they  come  back  to  the  dealers 
from  the  consumers  is  one  of  the  great  causes  of  the  inspec- 
tion of  milk  supply.  We  know  that  the  records  prove  that 
scarlet  fever  is  spread  in  that  way.  Milk  bottles  come  out 
of  a  house  in  which  there  is  scarlet  fever  and  they  are  sent 
back  to  the  dairy,  and  the  dairy  does  not  wash  them  very  care- 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  115 

fully — sometimes  with  just  cold  water  or  warm  water  which 
is  not  sufficient  to  kill  the  infective  agent. 

Then,  again,  somebody  on  the  farm  may  have  scarlet  fever 
or  some  other  infectious  disease.  Many  of  you  who  are  medi- 
cal men  and  have  had  experience  know  that  a  lot  of  farmers 
allow  cases  of  scarlet  fever  to  run  their  course  without  ever 
having  called  a  doctor  at  all.  They  often  go  through  typhoid 
fever  without  ever  having  an  examination  made  of  the  patient, 
or  even  knowing  what  it  was,  as  they  may  just  have  felt  out  of 
sorts.  Such  cases  are  never  reported.  With  diphtheria  and 
influenza  it  is  the  same  way.  We  do  not  get  all  our  colds 
from  drafts  on  the  back  of  the  neck.  When  we  stand  up  in 
a  street  car  holding  a  strap,  we  get  the  infection  on  our  hands, 
and  we  get  it  in  the  drinking  cup.  The  man  who  handles  the 
milk  does  not  take  any  precautions  when  he  has  a  cold.  He 
goes  on  milking  the  cows.  He  just  rubs  his  hands  over  his 
nose,  and  he  milks  the  cows,  and  those  organisms  go  into  the 
milk  again  and  are  spread  everywhere. 

Now,  to  go  back  to  the  cows  themselves.  The  cows  suffer 
from  infection,  just  as  we  do.  How  many  herds  are  there 
that  haven't  got  cases  of  mastitis  or  inflammation  of  the  udder 
or  the  milk  duct.  I  have  never  seen  a  herd  that  didn't  have 
some  cases  at  some  time  or  other.  You  will  find  fifteen  or 
twenty  per  cent  of  the  cows  in  a  herd  having  inflammation  of 
the  udders.  You  see  that  regularly.  Do  they  stop  sending 
milk  into  town  because  of  a  slight  inflammation  of  the  udder? 
Not  a  bit  of  it.  They  send  it  right  in,  and  that  is  where  we 
get  our  pus  organisms,  that  come  regularly  in  milk.  You 
will  find  them  regularly  in  milk  bottles. 

You  may  say  why  is  it  that  we  go  at  milk,  rather  than  other 
kinds  of  food?  We  cook  every  other  kind  of  food  that  is  nitro- 
genous, except  milk.  That  is  the  only  food  that  you  do  not 
cook.  It  is  the  only  one  that  is  taken  raw,  and  it  is  the  one 
that  is  a  most  favorable  medium  for  the  growth  of  the  in- 
fective agents  of  various  diseases.  They  are  there  in  the  milk, 
and  anybody  taking  it  runs  a  chance  of  getting  them.  When 
you  think  of  all  the  possibilities  of  milk  being  infected,  the 
strange  thing  is  that  it  is  not  infected  more  than  it  is.  How 
are  you  going  to  prevent  it?  Send  from  the  City  of  New 


116      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

York  thirty  inspectors  over  the  State,  among  the  thousands  of 
milk  producers,  to  see  whether  there  is  any  typhoid  or  in- 
fluenza or  mastitis  among  the  cows,  or  any  scarlet  fever  on 
the  farm,  or  on  the  route?  Perhaps  there  is  a  larger  number 
than  thirty,  but  not  many  more.  How  can  they  go  over 
hundreds  of  miles  of  territory?  Depend  upon  the  local  medi- 
cal health  officer  to  advise  as  to  who  has  the  typhoid?  By 
the  time  that  you  decide  that  a  person  has  typhoid,  he  has  had 
it  two  weeks,  and  he  was  infected  two  weeks  before  that.  What 
are  you  going  to  do  during  all  that  interval?  You  see,  you 
have  been  getting  typhoid  bacilli  in  your  milk  for  several 
weeks,  without  knowing  it.  For  every  case  of  typhoid  that 
the  health  officer  reports,  there  are  a  great  many  others  that 
have  existed.  I  know  of  one  case  in  which  the  health  officer 
reported  that  there  were  only  two  hundred  seventy-eight  cases 
in  the  City.  Then  someone  had  the  curiosity  to  go  out  and 
find  how  many  there  really  were.  Three  hundred  ninety-eight 
were  found  in  four  hospitals  alone.  That  is,  only  two  hun- 
dred seventy-eight  had  been  reported,  and  yet  there  were  three 
hundred  ninety-eight  in  the  hospitals.  The  hospitals  did  not 
even  report  them.  It  takes  time  to  make  the  diagnosis  and 
by  that  time  the  novelty  of  the  thing  has  worn  off  and  they 
do  not  report  it.  They  are  more  likely  to  report  the  other 
diseases,  like  diphtheria  and  scarlet  fever  and  so  on,  but  there 
are  very  many  that  are  not  reported  at  all.  I  know  of  one 
dairy  that  had  three  inspectors  going  around,  and  that  dairy 
stopped  two  milk  supplies  where  there  were  typhoid  fever  cases 
on  the  farms,  one  of  them  ten  days  and  the  other  fourteen  days 
old  before  the  City  authorities  knew  anything  about  it.  They 
stopped  those,  but  how  many  had  escaped  them  and  their  in- 
spectors ? 

That  is  the  situation  that  you  cannot  cope  with  by  inspec- 
tion. You  cannot  handle  them  that  way,  and  you  cannot  in- 
spect them  thoroughly.  Those  of  us  who  have  had  anything 
to  do  with  certified-milk  inspectors,  know  how  difficult  it  is  to 
get  them  to  report  on  certified  milk  places,  where  they  are 
trying  to  do  the  best  they  can.  It  takes  them  some  time  to 
make  up  their  minds  that  their  men  are  sick,  and  all  during 
that  time  there  is  a  possibility  of  infection. 

That  is  the  case  with  a  greater  portion  of  the  milk  that  is 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  117 

produced  and  sold  in  cities.  That  is  the  case  with  all  of  them, 
with  reference  to  disease. 

Now,  we  have  got  a  means  in  our  hands  to  get  rid  of  these 
disease  germs  in  milk.  Make  it  all  certified  milk,  if  you  can, 
but  you  cannot  do  that.  People  are  not  going  to  pay  fifteen 
cents  and  twenty-five  cents  a  quart  for  milk.  They  do  not 
realize  the  necessity  for  it,  and  you  have  got  to  do  something 
for  them.  They  do  not  realize  it,  but  you  can  prove  to  them 
that  the  bacteria  are  the  infected  agents.  Fortunately  for  us, 
the  organisms  that  are  the  most  harmful,  and  most  likely  to 
be  milk  borne,  are  the  organisms  that  can  be  killed  when  the 
milk  is  treated  to  a  comparatively  low  temperature.  All  ex- 
cept the  spore  bearing  organisms  can  be  killed  at  a  compara- 
tively low  temperature.  Investigators  are  commencing  to 
see  now  that  pasteurization  will  do  that.  Heat  the  milk  to 
140  degrees  Farenheit  and  keep  it  at  that  temperature  for  a 
short  time.  You  can  kill  them  at  a  higher  temperature  in  a 
very  short  time — perhaps  in  three  quarters  of  a  minute, — but 
there  are  too  many  risks  to  do  that.  It  may  let  a  quarter  of 
them  go  through  without  being  sterilized  or  without  being  pas- 
teurized or  without  having  the  organisms  killed.  The  milk 
should  be  kept  for  some  time  at  that  temperature.  It  should 
be  held  there  and  the  holding  machine  is  the  means  that  should 
.be  recommended.  You  know  how  difficult  it  is  to  employ  men 
who  are  going  to  be  reliable  at  all  times,  so  the  machine  should 
be  recommended.  Get  the  milk  in  as  clean  a  condition  as 
can  be.  Inspect  it,  watch  it,  see  that  it  comes  into  the  City  as 
cold  as  it  can  be  kept,  that  it  has  been  kept  cold  from  the  time 
it  left  the  farm.  See  that  it  is  gathered  in  as  clean  a  con- 
dition as  possible,  and  so  carried  to  the  City,  and  pasteur- 
ized by  being  brought  up  to  the  proper  temperature. 

Now,  many  object  to  that.  They  say,  "Well,  you  can  con- 
trol tuberculosis,"  but  if  you  do  not  do  that,  you  take  away 
the  power  of  controlling  tuberculosis.  They  will  tell  you,  too, 
that  the  most  important  thing  is  that  it  will  encourage  dirty 
milk,  and  that  it  will  stop  investigation,  but  it  does  not  neces- 
sarily do  that. 

Centrifuge  it  to  get  all  the  dirt  that  you  can  out  of  it. 
Heat  it,  and  then  they  will  say  that  you  have  spoiled  its  food 
value.  I  asked  a  superintendent  of  a  hospital  here  in  the  City 


118      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

one  time  if  he  ever  saw  rickets  developing  from  pasteurized 
milk?  "Oh,  no,"  he  said,  "that  is  what  we  feed  them.  That 
is  what  we  give  them — pasteurized  milk."  It  was  putrid  milk 
that  caused  rickets.  Milk  that  had  been  heated  and  allowed 
to  undergo  putrefaction  afterwards. 

A  little  bit  of  heat  applied  to  milk  won't  hurt  it.  Suppose 
it  is  heated  a  little  bit.  That  is  not  very  much  when  we  con- 
sider the  great  safety  that  we  are  getting  by  the  destruction 
of  the  putrefactive  organisms. 

One  of  the  best  preventives  for  the  growth  of  bac- 
teria in  milk  is  the  keeping  of  the  milk  cold.  That  is  just 
as  essential  a  matter  in  the  production  of  good  milk  as  any 
other,  and  it  is  just  as  important.  Just  as  important  as  the 
heating  of  it,  is  the  getting  it  cold  immediately  after  it  has 
been  pasteurized.  Sometimes  the  bacteria  are  all  killed,  some- 
times there  are  some  left.  Those  that  are  left  you  can  keep 
quiescent  for  a  great  length  of  time  by  simply  cooling  the  milk, 
and  keeping  it  so.  I  say,  pasteurize  it.  I  do  not  see  any 
other  way.  And  when  you  consider  the  possibility  of  inspec- 
tion, there  isn't  anything  to  do  with  public  milk  supplies  other 
than  to  pasteurize  them. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  I  am  sure  we  all  appreciate  Dr.  Amyot's  com- 
ing here  from  Toronto,  and  I  think  it  is  most  interesting,  too,  that 
he,  as  health  officer  of  Toronto,  agrees  so  closely  with  the  health 
commissioner  of  New  York  as  to  the  kinds  of  milk  that  can  be 
allowed  with  safety. 

I  am  very  glad,  indeed,  that  we  have  with  us  Dr.  Anderson, 
who  has  charge  of  the  Hygienic  Laboratory  in  Washington.  He 
has  had  much  to  do  with  standardizing  our  work.  I  know  that  in 
many  things  in  our  laboratory  I  have  to  obey  Dr.  Anderson,  be- 
cause he  has  the  power  of  preventing  my  giving  out  products,  un- 
less I  carry  out  his  standards.  Sometimes  I  think  they  are  a  little 
severe,  but  I  must  confess  that  when  I  talk  over  the  matter  with 
him  I  always  agree  that  they  are  correct.  I  am  sure  that  he  will 
have  something  of  benefit  to  tell  us.  Dr.  Anderson. 

DR.  ANDERSON  spoke  as  follows: 

THE  UTILITY  OF  LABORATORY  MILK  STANDARDS 

Laboratory  standards  for  milk  are  of  two  kinds,  (1)  Sani- 
tary, or  bacteriological,  to  protect  the  public  health  by  pre- 
venting the  use  of  disease-carrying  milk,  and  (£)  commercial, 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  119 

or  chemical,  to  protect  the  consumer  from  fraud  and  the  hon- 
est producer  and  distributor  from  dishonest  competition. 

The  chemical  standards  were  the  first  to  be  adopted.  They 
are  relatively  easy  of  enforcement,  but  give  us  little  indication 
of  the  sanitary  methods  used  in  the  dairy  or  in  handling  the 
milk. 

They  are  primarily  for  economic  purposes  and  to  prevent 
fraud ;  they  inform  us  as  to  the  amount  of  fat,  total  solids,  etc., 
and  the  presence  of  preservatives,  but  convey  little  informa- 
tion as  to  the  wholesomeness  and  purity  of  the  milk. 

Bacteriological  standards,  on  the  other  hand,  are  an  index 
of  the  excellence  of  dairy  methods  and  have  a  distinct  place 
in  the  control  of  milk  from  a  public  health  standpoint. 

The  acquisition  of  the  knowledge  of  the  part  played  by 
bacteria  as  affecting  the  wholesomeness  of  milk  gave  rise  to 
efforts  to  determine,  by  means  of  bacteriological  examination, 
the  purity  of  this  food.  These  efforts  at  first  were  mainly 
in  the  direction  of  determining  the  maximum  number  of  bac- 
teria in  milk  that  was  consistent  with  proper  dairy  methods. 
This  may  be  considered  as  the  quantitative  method  of  ex- 
amination, as  it  is  concerned  only  with  the  number  of  bacteria 
in  milk  and  takes  no  account  of  the  qualitative  examination 
or  determination  of  the  kind  of  bacteria.  This  last,  from  a 
public  health  standpoint,  is  by  far  the  more  important ;  but 
on  account  of  the  technical  difficulties  involved  in  such  an  ex- 
amination, and  by  reason  of  the  fact  that  the  milk  in  ques- 
tion has  been  used  or  has  spoiled  before  such  tests  are  com- 
pleted, is  less  practicable  and  less  widely  used. 

The  impression  seems  to  prevail  in  some  places  that  quan- 
titative bacteriological  standards  for  milk  are  in  themselves 
sufficient  to  indicate  the  purity  and  wholesomeness  of  milk; 
this  is  shown  by  the  fact  that  45  out  of  85  cities  have  adopted 
a  maximum  bacterial  standard,  and  in  some  cases  these  stan- 
dards have  been  relied  on  to  a  large  extent  for  the  control  of 
the  milk  supply  at  the  expense  of  an  extension  of  dairy  in- 
spection. Among  these  there  is  a  distinct  lack  of  recognition 
of  the  limitations  of  the  value  of  bacterial  standards. 

A  low  bacterial  count  of  a  sample  of  milk  does  not  neces- 
sarily mean  that  the  milk  is  free  from  danger,  for  the  contam- 
ination of  milk  with  the  infection  of  scarlet  fever  or  with  a 


120      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

few  typhoid  bacilli  is  a  far  greater  source  of  danger  than  the 
presence  of  millions  of  bacteria  of  the  lactic  acid  type.  But 
in  spite  of  the  possibility  that  milk  with  a  low  bacterial  count 
may  sometimes  contain  the  infection  of  certain  diseases,  such 
milk,  on  account  of  the  methods  necessary  to  be  used  to  main- 
tain a  low  bacterial  count,  is  much  less  apt  to  be  harmful  than 
milk  containing  large  numbers  of  bacteria. 

No  other  food  that  we  use  contains  the  enormous  number  of 
bacteria  that  milk  sometimes  does  and  in  no  other  food  is  it  so 
difficult  to  keep  the  number  reduced  to  a  minimum. 

Milk  containing  large  numbers  of  bacteria  is  not  necessarily 
dangerous  to  health,  but  their  presence  indicates  possibilities 
of  danger  and  should  not  be  countenanced;  their  presence 
points  to  a  lack  of  proper  methods  of  production  and  handling 
and  such  methods  are  apt  to  permit  the  access  of  infectious 
organisms.  It  therefore  follows  that  the  number  of  bacteria 
furnishes  us  with  an  index  of  the  conditions  under  which  the 
milk  has  been  produced  and  handled. 

The  number  of  bacteria  in  milk  is  mainly  dependent  on  five 
factors : 

1.     The  care  exercised  in  the  dairy. 

%.     The  methods  used  in  handling  and  transportation. 

3.  The  cleanliness   of  the  containers. 

4.  The  temperature  at  which  it  is  kept. 

5.  The  age  of  the  milk. 

The  kind  of  pathogenic  bacteria  that  may  be  present  in 
milk  is  principally  dependent  on  two  factors,  viz : 

(1)  The  health  of  the  cow  that  furnishes  the  milk,  and 
(2)  the  health  of  the  man  who  handles  the  milk. 

It  is  difficult  to  see  how,  in  either  case,  the  present  methods 
of  laboratory  examination  can  detect  these  specific  bacteria, 
if  present,  before  such  milk  has  been  used  and  has  exerted  its 
harmful  effects.  For  example,  to  determine  the  presence  of 
tubercle  bacilli  in  milk  coming  from  a  tuberculous  cow  would 
jfetjuire  from  four  to  eight  weeks ;  of  streptococci  from  an 
-animal  with  garget,  two  or  three  days ;  in  the  few  instances  in 
which  typhoid  bacilli  have  been  found  in  milk  it  required  ap- 
proximately a  week  to  determine  the  fact;  and  by  no  labora- 
tory methods  that  we  have  at  present  are  we  able  to  determine 
whether  the  infection  of  scarlet  feVer  be  present  in  milk. 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  121 

It  is  relatively  easy,  however,  through  proper  veterinary 
inspection  to  eliminate  from  the  herds  those  animals  that  con- 
stantly secrete  milk  containing  harmful  bacteria. 

Our  knowledge  of  the  potentiality  for  harm  of  bacillus-car- 
riers and  the  large  number  of  persons  who  come  into  contact 
with  milk,  taken  with  the  elusiveness  of  certain  infections  such 
as  scarlet  fever  which  sometimes  in  milk,  make  it  a  much  more 
difficult  problem  to  be  sure  of  the  absence  of  infections  which 
have  their  origin  in  man.  Intermittent  and  irregular  infection 
of  milk,  as  by  a  bacillus-carrier,  would  be  almost  impossible  to 
detect  by  laboratory  examination,  while  it  would  be  relatively 
easy  to  discover  such  sources  of  infection  by  an  efficient  and 
systematic  inspection  service. 

The  fact  that  such  conditions  are  not  revealed  by  laboratory 
examinations  is  the  secret  of  the  lack  of  complete  success  in 
the  control  of  the  milk  supply  from  the  laboratory  standpoint. 

This  fact,  however,  should  not  deter  us  from  making  labora- 
tory examinations  of  milk  and  the  establishment  and  enforce- 
ment of  bacterial  standards,  for  it  is  well  known  that  in  milk 
with  primarily  small  numbers  of  bacteria  a  great  increase  in  its 
bacterial  content  will  take  place  unless  it  be  kept  under  proper 
conditions  as  to  temperature,  etc. ;  and  milk  containing  large 
numbers  of  bacteria,  even  without  the  specific  infections,  has 
been  shown  by  clinicians  to  be  harmful  to  children  using  the 
same. 

Having  learned  that  a  relation  existed  between  the  number 
of  bacteria  in  milk  and  the  conditions  under  which  it  was 
produced  and  marketed,  it  was  but  a  step  to  formulate  bac- 
teriological standards  as  a  means  of  safeguarding  the  milk 
supply. 

The  first  attempt  to  adopt  a  quantitative  bacterial  standard 
for  market  milk  was  made  by  New  York  City  in  1900  by  the 
adoption  of  a  maximum  count  of  1,000,000  bacteria  per  cubic 
centimeter;  but  on  account  of  the  complexity  of  the  milk  sit- 
uation in  that  city,  it  was  found  practically  impossible  to  en- 
force such  a  standard. 

The  education  of  dairymen  throughout  the  country  in  re- 
gard to  the  importance  of  the  use  of  proper  methods  in  the 
production  of  milk  has  reached  such  a  state  that  quite  a  num- 
ber of  cities  have  found  it  possible  to  establish,  and  enforce 


122 


CONFERENCE.  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 


with  varying  degrees  of  success,  a  maximum  bacterial  stand- 
ard. From  data  on  file  in  the  Hygienic  Laboratory,  from  85 
out  of  the  1£5  largest  cities  in  the  United  States,  from  which 
information  was  to  be  had,  the  following  table  was  prepared 
showing  those  that  have  adopted  a  maximum  standard  count. 
It  will  be  noticed  that  a  number  of  them  also  make  qualitative 
examinations  in  addition  to  the  ordinary  counts. 


Bacterial 
City  maximum  Remarks 

Akron,  Ohio   500,000       Supplemental    inspection 

Albany,  N.  Y None        Advises   50,000 

Altoona,  Pa None 

Atlanta,  Ga 100,000 

Baltimore,   Md None 

Binghamton,  N.  Y 300,000       For    "ordinary"    milk 

50,000       For  "inspected"  milk 

Birmingham,  Ala 500,000 

Brockton,   Mass 500,000       Excludes  milk  containing  path- 
ogenic bacteria 

Buffalo,  N.  Y 500,000 

Cambridge,  Mass 500,000 

Camden,  N.  J None        state  Board  makes  tests 

Chattanooga,   Tenn None 

Chester,   Pa None 

Chicago,   Ills 100,000       May   to   September   inclusive 

50,000       October   to    April    inclusive 

(Health     Department      rule, 
not    city    ordinance.) 

Cincinnati,   Ohio    None 

Cleveland,  Ohio   500,000 

Columbus,  Ohio  500,000 

Covington,   Ky 500,000       To   be    enforced    after   Jan.    1, 

1911 

Davenport,  Iowa  None 

Detroit,  Mich None        For  ordinary  milk 

10,000       For  certified  milk 

Dubuque,   Iowa    None 

Duluth,   Minn None 

Elmira,  N.  Y None 

Erie,  Pa None        Conditions     investigated     when 

count  runs  over  100,000 

Evansville,  Ind 500,000       Established  by  state  law  limit- 
ing to  500,000 

Haverhill,  Mass 100,000 

Hoboken,  N.  J None 

Holyoke,  Mass 500,000 

Indianapolis,  Ind 500,000       Established  by  state  law  limit- 
ing to  500,000 

Johnstown,   Pa None 

Hartford,  Conn None 

Knoxville,  Tenn None 

Lawrence,  Mass None 

Lincoln,  Neb 500,000 

Little  Rock,  Ark 100,000 

Los  Angeles,  Cal 500,000 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE 


123 


Bacterial 
City  maximum  Remarks 

Lowell,  Mass None 

Lynn,  Mass 500,000 

Maiden,  Mass 500,000  Excludes  milk  containing  path- 
ogenic bacteria 

Manchester,  N.  H 500,000 

Memphis,  Tenn None        Relies    on    frequent    inspection 

of   dairies 

Milwaukee,  Wis 250,000 

Minneapolis,  Minn 500,000 

Nashville,    Tenn 500,000       Not  an  ordinance 

Newark,  N.  J None 

New  Bedford,  Mass 500,000       Warned  at  50,000 

New  Haven,  Conn None  Milk  rejected  when  pus  organ- 
isms or  streptococci  are 
found  till  conditions  are 
remedied 

New  Orleans,  La None 

Newton,  Mass None 

New  York,  N.  Y None 

Oakland,  Cal 100,000  From  April  to  October  inclu- 
sive 

75,000       From  November  to  March  in- 
clusive 

Omaha,    Neb 150,000       For  ordinary  milk 

20,000       For  certified  milk 

Prosecutes   when   count   runs 
between    400,000   and   500,000 

Pawtucket,  R.  I None 

Philadelphia,    Pa None 

Pittsburg,   Pa 500,000 

Providence,   R.   1 100,000 

Quincy,   Mass 500,000 

Reading,   Pa None 

Richmond,   Va 500,000       250,000    subjects    producer    to 

warning 

Rochester,  N.  Y None        Have  tried   to  enforce   100,000 

Salem,   Mass None 

San  Antonio,  Tex 100,000       Also     rejects     for     pathogenic 

bacteria 

Salt  Lake  City,  Utah   500,000 

San  Francisco,  Cal None        500,000    subjects    producer    to 

warning 

Schenectady,  N.  Y 500,000 

Scranton,  Pa 300,000  Health  office  rule,  not  ordi- 
nance 

Seattle,  Wash 200,000       For  ordinary  milk 

30,000       F°r  certified  milk 

Controlled  by  state  law 

Sioux  City,  la None 

Somerville,   Mass 500,000 

Springfield,  Mass None 

Springfield,  Ohio  None 

St.  Joseph,  Mo None 

St.  Louis,  Mo None 

St.  Paul,  Minn 500,000 

Syracuse,  N.  Y 500,000       Three    consecutive   high   counts 

exclude  milk 

Tacoma,  Wash 200,000       For  ordinary  milk 

35,000       For  certified  milk 


124      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

Bacterial 
City  maximum  Remarks 

Toledo,  Ohio  None 

Utica,  N.  Y None 

Washington,  D.  C None        Dealer     cautioned     when     high 

count 

Wheeling,  W.  Va 100,000  Counts  published  in  news- 
papers; claimed  very  ef- 
fective 

Wilkes-Barre,  Pa 100,000 

Wilmington,  Del None 

Worcester,  Mass 500,000 

Yonkers,  N.  Y None 

Youngstown,  Ohio  500,000  Rejects  for  pathogenic  bac- 
teria 

The  classification  of  milk  as  recommended  by  the  confer- 
ence appointed  by  the  Commissioners  of  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia to  report  on  the  milk  supply  of  Washington,  provided  for 
three  classes  of  milk : 

Class   1.— Certified  milk. 

Class  2. — Inspected  milk. 

Class  3. — Pasteurized  milk. 

For  the  first  two  classes  a  maximum  bacterial  count  was 
adopted,  but  it  was  only  a  part  of  and  was  supplementary  to 
other  requirements  making  such  standards  possible  of  attain- 
ment. 

So  while  a  bacterial  standard  was  recommended  for  the  city 
of  Washington,  it  was  after  all  only  secondary  to  other  re- 
quirements and  was  possible  of  enforcement  only  on  compli- 
ance with  those  requirements,  including  the  important  ones  of 
inspection  of  the  cow  and  of  persons  handling  the  milk. 

In  my  opinion  it  was  a  mistake  not  to  recommend  also  a 
maximum  bacterial  count  for  pasteurized  milk.  A  bacterial 
count  of  pasteurized  milk  is  of  greater  value  in  the  control  of 
this  class  of  milk  than  is  a  count  of  either  of  the  other  two 
classes  and  it  is  the  only  way  in  which  we  can  gauge  the  ef- 
ficiency of  the  pasteurization  and  the  conditions  under  which 
the  milk  has  been  kept  subsequent  to  pasteurization.  In  the 
control  of  this  class  of  milk  we  have  the  only  instance  in  which 
the  bacterial  standard  is  of  greater  value  and  importance  than 
inspection.  A  maximum  count  of  bacteria  for  pasteurized 
milk  should  be  established  as  definitely  and  enforced  as  strictly 
as  is  the  time  and  temperature  of  the  heating,  for  it  is  the  only 
index  of  the  efficiency  of  the  process. 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  125 

What  then  is  the  utility  of  bacterial  standards  for  milk? 
To  my  mind  the  great  utility  of  quantitative  standards  for 
milk  is  to  draw  attention  to  the  faulty  dairy  methods  which 
would  otherwise  escape  notice  because  of  too  infrequent  in- 
spections, and  to  stimulate  methods  of  excellence  among  pro- 
ducers. 

There  can  be  no  question  as  to  the  utility  of  such  standards, 
but  they  should  be  considered  only  as  an  index  as  to  whether 
other  requirements,  such  as  cleanliness,  temperature,  and  the 
maintenance  of  an  efficient  inspection  service,  have  been  car- 
ried out.  Such  standards  are  of  the  greatest  value  in  aiding 
the  health  authorities  to  detect  whether  improper  dairy  meth- 
ods are  employed  between  the  dairy  inspections,  such  as  the 
use  of  unclean  utensils,  not  cooling  the  milk  sufficiently,  or 
keeping  it  too  long;  but  they  must  always  be  considered  as  a 
part  of  the  inspection  service  and  not  as  a  substitute. 

Bacterial  standards  are  also  of  great  value  to  the  adminis- 
trative officer  in  maintaining  a  high  efficiency  of  his  inspection 
service ;  for  if  his  inspectors  make  too  infrequent  visits  to  the 
farms  or  are  lax  in  their  work,  the  result  will  surely  be  read  in 
the  laboratory. 

A  maximum  bacterial  standard  is  not  applicable  alike  to 
every  dairy  shipping  milk  into  a  city  of  considerable  size,  since 
it  is  known  that  a  great  increase  in  the  bacterial  content  of 
milk  takes  place  dependent  upon  the  conditions  and  distance 
of  shipment.  If  it  were  practicable  to  have  milk  collection 
centers  where  these  examinations  could  be  made,  and  if  the 
milk  could  be  shipped  under  entirely  proper  conditions  from 
those  centers  to  the  city,  a  definite  bacterial  standard  might  be 
feasible  and  would  be  of  value. 

It  must  be  remembered  that  if  the  bacterial  count  be  made 
from  samples  taken  at  the  railroad  station  no  account  is  had 
of  what  happens  to  the  milk  between  the  station  and  the  con- 
sumer. 

Qualitative  bacteriological  standards,  such  as  the  presence 
of  streptococci  or  an  excess  of  leucocytes,  while  not  of  as  gen- 
eral utility  as  the  quantitative  standard,  still  have  their  place. 
They  are  of  great  value  to  the  health  authorities  and  to  pro- 
gressive dairymen  who  are  able  to  have  examinations  made  in 
accordance  with  such  standards.  By  their  use  it  is  possible  to 


126      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

detect  and  exclude  milk  from  diseased  animals.  Milk  from 
cows  suffering  from  garget  or  mammitis  contains  streptococci, 
or  streptococci  and  pus,  or  a  large  amount  of  pus,  and  it  is 
easily  possible,  when  milk  containing  these  is  found  coming 
from  a  certain  dairy,  by  going  back  to  the  farm  to  find  the  re- 
sponsible cow  and  so  exclude  her  product. 

The  examination  of  market  milk  for  tubercle  bacilli,  while 
not  of  great  value  in  preventing  the  use  of  such  infected  milk, 
is  of  value,  when  the  results  are  made  public,  as  a  means  of 
educating  the  public,  legislative  bodies,  and  milk  producers  as 
to  the  danger  of  using  milk  from  diseased  animals  and  to  em- 
phasize the  importance  of  veterinary  inspection. 

To  recapitulate:  Of  the  different  standards  now  in  use, 
the  chemical  is  of  value  in  preventing  the  grosser  forms  of 
adulteration  and  pollution  but  of  slight  sanitary  significance. 

Existing  bacteriologic  standards  are  of  value  in  showing 
the  care  that  has  been  taken  of  the  milk,  in  detecting  certain 
pathogenic  organisms  that  can  be  demonstrated  by  laboratory 
methods,  and  also  in  checking  the  work  of  the  inspectors.  A 
maximum  bacterial  standard  is  almost  indispensable  in  the 
control  of  pasteurized  milk.  To  reveal  the  more  important 
and  elusive  of  the  infections,  an  efficient  inspection  service  is 
indispensable,  and  for  this  also  certain  standards  are  neces- 
sary. Each  of  these  means  of  investigation  is  of  use  in  check- 
ing the  others.  Even  taken  altogether  and  applied  with  the 
utmost  care,  they  sometimes  allow  infection  to  slip  through 
unnoticed,  and  every  source  of  milk  intended  for  public  use 
should  be  rigorously  measured  by  each  of  the  standards  men- 
tioned, new  standards  being  devised  and  old  ones  modified  or 
discarded  with  each  advance  in  knowledge. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  I  would  like  again  to  call  your  attention,  as 
Dr.  Sedgwick  did  yesterday,  to  how  most  men  working  in  these 
lines  of  work  are  getting  together.  Really,  we  have  almost  not 
enough  difference  of  opinion  to  make  it  exciting.  We  are  also 
agreed  on  these  methods.  One  thing  that  Dr.  Anderson  spoke  of 
will  be  interesting  to  New  York  especially,  and  that  is  the  state- 
ment that  pasteurized  milk  especially  should  have  a  bacterial 
standard.  I  think  that  within  a  very  few  months  all  of  the  milk 
that  is  pasteurized  will  either  be  of  one  type  or  in  two  types,  one 
type  approved  of  by  the  Health  Department  and  under  their 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  127 

standard  and  the  other  type  not  approved  but  allowed,  only  because 
we  will  find  no  way  to  prevent  it.  So  that  those  who  are  working 
in  a  proper  way  and  under  proper  supervision  will  have  at  least 
the  right  to  make  such  a  statement,  while  others  may  still  be  per- 
mitted to  sell  milk  that  does  not  come  under  that  standard.  It 
will  only  be  allowed  because  the  law  would  prevent  the  department 
from  stopping  it. 

Dr.  Anderson  spoke  of  New  York's  having  adopted  a  bacterial 
standard  for  raw  milk  and  dropping  it.  It  never  was  made  a  legal 
standard.  The  reason  it  was  dropped  was  the  very  reason  that 
he  mentioned  later  on,  that  there  was  no  way  to  tell  whether  the 
farmer  or  the  railroad  or  the  dealer  was  at  fault,  and  it  seemed 
absurd  to  write  a  letter  to  the  farmer,  saying  that  his  milk  must 
be  excluded,  when  we  knew  that  it  may  have  come  down  in  an  ex- 
press car  or  in  an  un-iced  car,  and  it  was  not  the  fault  of  the 
farmer,  perhaps.  We  have  recently,  within  a  few  weeks,  under 
the  direction  of  Mr.  Raynor  and  Mr.  Burton,  started  to  have  a 
group  of  inspectors,  trained  in  laboratory  methods,  go  from  spot 
to  spot  throughout  the  State  and  send  in  milk  from  each  farm  on 
two  days,  and  milk  from  the  creamery,  and  milk  from  the  trains, 
on  the  way,  and  upon  arrival.  In  that  way,  we  can  place  the 
blame  where  it  belongs,  whether  upon  the  farmer,  the  railroad  or 
the  dealer;  and  in  that  way,  I  believe,  we  can  get  a  more  honest 
and  a  more  true  idea  of  the  conditions;  and  in  that  way  a  stand- 
ard can  be  utilized,  by,  of  course,  trying  to  use  common  sense  in 
its  interpretation. 

Now,  we  have  for  the  next  speaker,  a  man  who  has  approached 
the  matter  from  a  somewhat  different  side.  We  have  for  our  next 
speaker  Mr.  H.  O.  Averill,  Commissioner  of  Domestic  Animals  of 
the  State  of  Connecticut. 

MR.  AVERILL  spoke  as  follows: 

THE  MILK  SUPPLY  OF  CONNECTICUT 

MR.  CHAIRMAN  AND  GENTLEMEN:  I  came  to  New  York  to 
attend  these  meetings  for  the  purpose  of  absorbing  informa- 
tion, and  I  assure  you  that  I  have  been  well  repaid  for  my  trip. 
I  have  been  persuaded  to  appear  before  you,  by  Dr.  Wile,  your 
chairman,  against  my  wishes  and  against  my  judgment.  I 
regret  that  I  have  nothing  to  offer  you  that  will  aid  you  in 
solving  these  milk  problems.  I  will  give  you,  in  a  few  words, 
a  little  in  regard  to  the  milk  supply  of  Connecticut. 

Connecticut  is  geographically  a  small  state  and  is  located 
on  the  map  between  the  cities  of  New  York  on  the  West  and 


128      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

Providence  and  Boston  on  the  East.  Her  Southern  coast, 
along  Long  Island  Sound  is  largely  devoted  to  truck  garden- 
ing, while  summer  cottages  practically  line  the  shore.  Her 
valleys  are  dotted  with  large  and  prosperous  manufacturing 
towns,  giving  steady  employment  to  thousands  of  well  paid 
and  thrifty  laborers.  Her  hill-tops  are  within  easy  riding 
distance  by  rail  or  auto  from  some  large  city  and  are  yearly 
attracting  more  and  more  people  from  the  urban  districts  to 
come  out  and  buy  homes  and  farms  and  enjoy  the  beautiful 
scenery,  the  pure  air,  the  home  grown  vegetables  and  fruits,  and 
the  hunting  and  fishing  for  which  our  back  towns  are  noted. 

The  "Nutmeg  State"  is  noted  far  and  wide  as  a  manufac- 
turing state  but  no  sweeter  grass  grows  than  is  found  on  our 
Litchfield  County  hills  and  in  the  upper  valleys  of  the  Con- 
necticut and  Housatonic  Rivers  a  grade  of  tobacco  is  raised 
which  for  cigar  wrappers  is  unsurpassed.  Connecticut  is  also 
also  a  wonderful  corn  growing  state  as  she  holds  the  record 
for  the  highest  yield  for  a  single  acre  and  also  for  the  greatest 
average  production  per  acre  of  any  state  in  the  union. 

The  census  bulletins  that  have  been  published  indicate  very 
clearly  that  our  urban  population  is  rapidly  increasing  while 
our  agricultural  towns  show  an  almost  uniform  loss  of  popu- 
lation. In  other  words  the  consumers  of  agricultural  products 
are  increasing  while  the  number  of  producers  and  the  amount 
produced  are  as  steadily  decreasing. 

The  average  Connecticut  farmer  is  extremely  fortunate 
in  being  located  within  easy  driving  distance  of  a  good  home 
market  in  some  one  or  more  large  manufacturing  town  or  city 
where  everything  grown,  or  produced  on  the  farm,  may  be 
sold  at  good  prices. 

The  increasing  local  demands  of  the  home  markets  for  milk 
and  the  products  of  milk  are  gradually  absorbing  the  milk 
from  those  sections  of  the  state  where  formerly  it  was  shipped 
either  to  New  York,  Providence  or  Boston. 

From  the  Eastern  part  of  the  state  considerable  quantities 
of  milk  are  daily  shipped  to  Providence  and  Boston;  Spring- 
field takes  from  the  Northern  part  while  a  large  amount  is 
shipped  to  New  York  by  the  New  York,  New  Haven  and  Hart- 
ford Railroad  from  the  Western  part. 

We  have  long  known  that  typhoid  fever  is  occasionally  dis- 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  129 

tributed  by  milk  and  it  is  now  generally  accepted  that  tuber- 
culosis may  be  communicated  to  the  human  through  the  me- 
dium of  the  milk.  It  is  also  conceded  that  filthy  and  dirty 
milk  has  been  the  cause  of  many  deaths  of  infants  and  chil- 
dren by  intestinal  troubles  or  diarrhoea.  Milk  is  the  only  food 
that  is  taken  by  many  babies  and  invalids  and  it  enters  very 
largely  into  the  diet  of  nearly  all  persons  of  all  ages.  It  is 
therefore  plain  to  see  that  it  is  the  duty  of  the  State  where 
the  milk  is  produced  and  the  municipality  where  the  milk  is 
consumed  (as  it  certainly  is  their  right),  to  insist  that  the  con- 
ditions surrounding  the  production,  handling  and  sale  of  milk 
shall  be  such  as  will  result  in  the  placing  in  the  consumers' 
hands  a  product  that  shall  be  not  only  free  from  the  germs 
of  disease  but  shall  be  free  from  filth.  I  believe — and  I  think 
no  one  will  disagree  with  me — that  the  healthy  cow  yields  milk 
that  is  clean  and  wholesome.  If  the  milk  from  such  cows  is 
found  to  be  unclean  and  unwholesome  when  it  reaches  the  con- 
sumer's table  the  trouble  lies  somewhere  between  the  cow  and 
the  consumer's  table  and  I  am  inclined  to  believe  that,  includ- 
ing the  producer,  the  dealer  and  the  consumer,  the  chances 
are  fully  one  in  three  that  the  fault  should  be  charged  against 
the  consumer  for  his  carelessness  or  ignorance  in  caring  for 
the  milk  after  it  is  delivered  to  him. 

In  rare  cases  cows  that  are  affected  with  tuberculosis  yield 
milk  that  contains  the  germs  of  the  disease.  If  the  disease  is  in 
the  advanced  stages,  or  is  generalized,  or  if  there  is  localized 
disease  in  the  udder,  this  will  very  likely  be  the  case,  but  in 
my  opinion  the  tubercle  bacilli  are  more  likely  to  get  into  the 
milk  after  it  is  drawn  from  the  cow  than  they  are  to  be  drawn 
from  the  cow's  udder. 

Dr.  Schroeder,  Superintendent  of  the  Experiment  Station 
of  the  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture, — Bureau  of 
Animal  Industry — has  demonstrated  that  "Tuberculous  cows, 
wholly  free  from  visible  symptoms  of  tuberculosis  frequently 
expel  tubercle  bacilli  from  their  bodies  per  rectum."  Cows 
kept  in  a  filthy  stable  must  inevitably  become  more  or  less 
soiled  by  lying  in  the  filth  and  as  it  is  impossible  for  even  a 
clean  man  to  milk  a  cow  whose  flanks  and  udder  are  dirty  and 
not  let  more  or  less  of  the  filth  get  into  the  milk,  we  can  see 
how  easy  it  is  for  this  filth  to  become  the  medium  for  carrying 


130      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

the  germs  into  the  milk.  The  strainer  may  remove  all  the 
filth  that  is  visible,  but  the  liquid  filth  and  the  germs  will  pass 
through  with  the  milk,  into  the  can. 

It  is  stating  a  self  evident  proposition  to  say  that  the  con- 
sumer has  a  right  to  demand  that  the  producer  and  dealer 
shall  furnish  him  milk  that  is  clean  and  pure.  The  producer 
and  the  dealer,  on  the  other  hand  are  justified  in  demanding 
that  their  customers  shall  take  proper  care  of  the  milk  after  it 
is  delivered  to  them  and  shall  pay  a  living  price  for  it.  The 
men  who  produce  and  the  men  who  sell  dirty  milk  for  clean 
milk  are  either  ignorant,  careless  or  dishonest.  The  man  who 
adulterates  his  milk  with  filth  or  gives  his  customer  2%  milk 
from  the  bottom  of  the  can  may  be  simply  ignorant,  but  the 
man  who  puts  clean  water  into  his  milk  is  dishonest.  How- 
ever, we  can  readily  see  that  the  former  may  be  endangering 
the  lives  of  many  babies  while  the  dishonest  man's  milk  may 
be  perfectly  wholesome. 

The  problem  which  confronts  us  in  our  campaign  for  pure 
milk  is :  how  can  we  teach  the  ignorant,  warn  the  careless  and 
punish  the  dishonest  milk-man. 

The  milk  producer  in  Connecticut  has  no  occasion  to  feel 
that  the  interests  of  milk  consumers  are  being  neglected  for 
his  stable  is  liable,  at  any  time,  to  be  visited  by  one  of  the  in- 
spectors employed  by  the  State  Dairy  &  Food  Commissioner, 
by  a  local  city  or  borough  milk  inspector,  by  an  employee  of 
the  board  of  health  in  the  city  outside  of  the  state  where  his 
milk  is  sold,  by  a  representative  of  the  dealer  to  whom  he  sells 
his  milk,  by  the  local  town  health  officer,  or  by  the  Commis- 
sioner on  Domestic  Animals  if  any  of  the  others  notice  any 
animal  showing  suspicious  symptoms  of  tuberculosis. 

With  all  these  inspectors  in  the  field  there  is  no  conflict  of 
authority.  The  Dairy  and  Food  Commissioner  has  authority 
to  order  the  owner  of  dairy  stock  to  remove  or  abate,  within 
a  specified  time,  any  unsanitary  condition  that  may  be  found 
to  exist,  under  a  penalty  of  a  fine  of  twenty-five  dollars.  The 
city  or  borough  inspector  can  simply  recommend  certain 
changes  and  then  tell  the  farmer  that  if  he  fails  to  make  them 
he  can  sell  no  more  milk  in  that  city.  The  dealer  can  likewise 
tell  the  farmer  to  either  "put  up  or  shut  up."  The  local  health 
officer  has  the  right  to  take  samples  of  all  milk  sold  in  his 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  131 

jurisdiction  and  send  them  to  the  state  bacteriological  labor- 
atory where  they  are  analyzed.  The  state  bacteriologist  sends 
to  the  health  officer  reports  on  all  specimens  received  from  him 
and  also  sends,  on  small  slips,  an  individual  report  to  be  given 
to  each  dealer  showing  the  analysis  of  the  milk  collected  from 
him.  At  the  bottom  of  this  slip  is  printed  a  statement  indi- 
cating what  the  requirements  are  and  what  is  good  and  what 
is  a  poor  analysis  of  milk.  Each  person  will  thus  obtain  his 
own  report  and  know  whether  his  milk  is  showing  a  good  or  a 
poor  analysis. 

If  the  state  bacteriologist  finds  a  specimen  that  is  impure 
either  with  too  little  butter  fat  or  with  indications  of  watering 
or  with  a  very  high  bacterial  content,  or  with  dirt  in  the  milk 
he  immediately  reports  the  facts  to  the  Dairy  and  Food  Com- 
missioner who  sends  an  inspector  to  examine  the  sanitary  con- 
ditions surrounding  the  production  and  handling  of  the  sus- 
pected sample,  or  to  take  samples  of  the  milk.  When  sam- 
ples are  taken  by  the  Dairy  and  Food  Commissioner  they  are 
immediately  sealed  in  the  presence  of  the  farmer  and  one  sam- 
ple is  left  with  him  and  one  is  sent  to  the  Connecticut  Agri- 
cultural Experiment  Station  to  be  analyzed.  The  analyses 
as  reported  by  the  chemist  at  the  Experiment  Station  are 
prima  facie  evidence  by  statute  and  when  these  reports  show 
that  the  milk  has  been  adulterated  or  that  the  milk  contains  a 
preservative  the  Dairy  and  Food  Commissioner  informs  the 
proper  prosecuting  officer  and  the  offending  party  is  pros- 
ecuted. 

During  the  eleven  years  and  more  that  I  have  been  com- 
missioner my  work  has  taken  me  into  farmer's  stables  all  over 
the  state  and  I  do  not  hesitate  to  say  that  there  has  been  a 
very  marked  improvement  in  the  sanitary  conditions  surround- 
ing the  production  and  handling  of  milk  in  nearly  every  section 
of  the  state.  Barns  and  stables  have  been  remodeled ;  cement 
floors  have  been  laid ;  additional  windows  have  been  put  in  to 
admit  more  sunlight  into  the  stables ;  stable  walls  and  ceilings 
are  whitewashed  to  better  reflect  the  light ;  more  attention  is 
being  paid  to  ventilation  and  to  removing  the  milk  from  the 
stable  and  cooling  it  as  soon  as  possible  after  it  is  drawn. 

I  regret  to  have  to  admit  that  in  some  sections,  too  remote 
from  local  markets  and  shipping  facilities  to  permit  the  selling 


132      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

of  whole  milk,  the  farmers  are  lagging  behind  in  the  matter  of 
changing  conditions  and  practices  to  conform  to  the  modern 
requirements.  These  exceptions,  however,  clearly  demonstrate 
the  good  work  accomplished  by  the  milk  inspector.  Prof.  H. 
W.  Conn,  State  Bacteriologist,  informs  me  that  the  analyses 
which  have  been  made  under  his  supervision,  of  milk  coming 
from  sections  where  they  have  had  systematic  work  done  by 
inspectors,  show  a  marked  improvement.  Dairymen  are  much 
less  likely  to  be  forgetful,  careless  or  dishonest  if  they  know 
they  are  being  watched  by  inspectors  and  dealers. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  I  am  sure  we  all  disagree  with  one  statement 
of  Commissioner  Averill,  that  he  had  nothing  to  bring  to  us.  I  am 
sure  that  we  can  want  nothing  better  than  to  get  the  facts,  and  to 
get  the  experience  of  other  states  and  other  towns  and  other  places. 

So  I  am  glad  that  we  have,  for  the  next  speaker,  one  who  repre- 
sents a  smaller  community.  We  have  had  the  Commissioner  of 
New  York,  we  have  had  the  Commissioner  of  Toronto,  and  the 
health  officer,  and  we  have  now  Mr.  Lyman  Root,  Ex-Health  Officer 
of  Stamford,  Connecticut,  to  speak  to  us. 

Mfc.  ROOT  spoke  as  follows: 

STANDARDS  OF  MILK  UTENSILS 

MR.  CHAIRMAN,  AND  LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN  :  I  am  to 
speak  to  you  briefly  upon  a  topic  that  has  not  been  touched 
upon  directly  during  any  of  the  sessions  of  this  conference. 
My  topic  is  "Standards  of  Milk  Utensils." 

The  fundamental  principle  that  underlies  all  the  ways  and 
means  of  milk  production,  which  we  have  been  discussing  from 
so  many  points  of  view,  is  this : — Every  possible  method  and 
precaution  must  be  employed  to  keep  the  milk  clean  and 
cool. 

I  am  asked  to  speak  of  the  necessity  of  using  milk  utensils 
so  constructed  that  milk  put  into  them  may  suffer  no  con- 
tamination. I  am  convinced  that  many  of  the  difficulties 
which  dairymen  have  to  overcome  with  sour  and  ill-flavored 
milk,  come  from  poorly  made  and  carelessly  cleaned  pails,  cans, 
coolers,  etc. 

The  almost  universal  fault  in  the  making  of  dairy  utensils 
is  that  their  joints  and  seams  are  left  open  with  cracks  and 
crevices  impossible  to  clean.  Handles  are  usually  riveted  on 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  133 

with  a  perceptible  opening  around  the  plate.  Milk,  soapy 
water  and  dirt  of  every  description  can  easily  enter  these  open- 
ings, and  a  goodly  portion  becomes  permanently  lodged  there, 
for  no  amount  of  scrubbing  can  entirely  remove  it.  Take  an 
old  pail  or  can  that  has  seen  years  of  service,  in  even  a  well 
kept  dairy  and  pry  up  the  tin  at  the  rim  and  look  under  the 
wire.  The  matter  which  has  accumulated  there  resembles  in 
appearance  and  odor  that  which  is  removed  from  a  stopped  up 
kitchen  drain  pipe.  And  why  should  it  not? 

I  have  brought  for  your  inspection  the  lid  and  top  of  a  can 
which  has  been  in  use  for  one  year.  I  washed  it  as  clean  as 
possible  then  placed  it  on  a  hot  stove.  Part  of  the  substance 
which  came  out  of  the  cracks  took  fire  and  burned ;  but  enough 
remains  to  show  you  what  I  mean.  This  putrifying  mass  is 
laden  with  those  forms  of  bacteria  which  we  are  most  anxious 
to  keep  out  of  our  milk.  The  covered  pail  is  recognized  as  a 
necessity  wherever  the  best  is  sought.  In  my  judgment  the 
hooded  pail  is  to  be  preferred  as  it  protects  the  opening  and 
does  away  with  a  strainer  in  the  cover  of  the  pail.  It  seems 
more  sensible  to  keep  hairs  and  particles  of  dirt  from  falling 
in  at  all  rather  than  to  have  them  caught  on  a  strainer  and 
washed  over  and  over  by  the  milk.  In  the  latter  case  all  the 
really  harmful  part  gets  into  the  pail  just  the  same. 

What  I  wish  to  emphasize  most  strongly  is  the  necessity  of 
having  the  seams  and  joints  of  every  utensil  absolutely  tight. 
They  should  be  flushed  with  solder  inside  and  out  and  smoothly 
finished.  This  is  particularly  important  in  large  cans.  The 
milk  stands  in  them  for  a  long  time  and  during  transportation 
they  are  exposed  to  dirt  and  cinders  and  are  handled  by  un- 
cleanly workmen. 

It  is  a  matter  for  congratulation  that  the  common  sense 
milk  bottle  is  so  rapidly  becoming  the  standard. 

I  need  hardly  speak  of  the  obvious  advantages  to  the  con- 
sumers of  milk  when  good  utensils  are  used.  Would  that  they 
were  more  discriminating  and  appreciative.  The  cry  that  is 
raised  by  the  man  on  the  farm  is  "they  cost  too  much."  Let 
him  remember  that  his  pails  rust  out  first  in  the  seams  and  rim 
rather  than  on  the  flat  surfaces.  Tinware  with  no  opening 
in  which  a  drop  of  water  can  lodge  will  wear  years  longer  than 
that  which  cannot  ever  be  thoroughly  dried.  If  time  is  valued 


134      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

compare  the  moments  spent  in  an  endeavor  to  keep  cracks  and 
corners  clean  even  to  the  eye,  with  that  required  to  wash  off  a 
smooth  surface.  And  let  him  consider  also  the  occasional  loss 
of  several  cans  of  milk  because  it  is  sour  or  has  a  bad  taste, 
and  let  him  weigh  the  relative  value  of  his  reputation  for  thrift 
and  reliability  against  that  of  his  careless  neighbor  who  clings 
to  old-fashioned  methods.  These  purely  selfish  reasons  justify 
some  additional  first  cost.  The  menace  to  health  which  the 
use  of  battered  and  filthy  tins  involves  is  enough  to  rouse  some 
sense  of  responsibility  in  the  least  altruistic  if  he  will  but  stop 
to  understand. 

There  has  been  some  improvement  to  be  seen  in  dairy  sup- 
plies as  they  have  come  from  the  manufacturer  during  the  past 
few  years.  But  their  standard  is  still  too  low.  I  am  plead- 
ing for  this  standard  in  the  hope  that  some  action  may  be 
taken  that  shall  influence  the  manufacturers.  Year  by  year 
we  shall  see  changes  in  detail  of  construction ;  but  the  one  sim- 
ple and  absolute  necessity  is  that  every  seam  and  crevice  be 
closed  with  solder.  Surely  this  is  not  an  unreasonable  demand. 

I  might  say  that  while  I  was  milk  inspector  of  the  City  of 
Stamford,  I  visited  all  the  dairies  and  visited  them  frequently, 
and  I  found  out  when  they  were  going  to  get  new  cans  and  I 
arranged  with  the  Iron-clad  Can  Company  and  also  with  the 
Dairymen's  Manufacturing  Company  of  Jersey  City,  to  fill  the 
seams  of  these  cans  with  solder,  which  makes  them  very  much 
stronger  and  much  more  lasting,  and  they  charged  me  fifteen 
cents  for  the  flushing  of  those  seams  and  the  numbering  and 
lettering  of  the  cans.  So  you  see  it  is  not  very  expensive 
when  you  count  the  advantages  of  it. 

Now,  I  have  procured  here  a  can  that  has  been  used  one 
year,  and,  speaking  of  improvements,  notice  this  can  (indicat- 
ing can).  This  can  was  made  a  year  ago.  You  will  not  find 
that  now.  I  asked  the  Dairyman's  Manufacturing  Company 
to  send  me  a  lid  with  it  and  I  am  sorry  they  did  not  do  it.  In 
the  old  way  they  folded  a  seam  there,  making  the  metal  rim  a 
little  stifFer.  They  folded  that  along  there  (indicating).  Well, 
you  see  how  that  js  continuously  full  of  milk  (indicating). 
That  is  not  soldered  down  at  all.  You  will  notice  that  those 
seams  are  always  rusty  when  they  get  damp. 

Now,  that  seam  (indicating)  is  left  off  entirely,  and  that  is 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  135 

one  of  the  most  important  things.  That  is  one  of  the  best 
improvements  in  connection  with  the  milk  can  business.  These 
edges  along  here  are  cut  off,  and  it  is  interesting  to  notice  at 
the  bottom  edge,  how  it  will  rust  around,  just  a  little. 

They  are  making  these  cans  beautifully.  Oh,  how  I  wish 
that  something  could  be  done  or  some  influence  could  be  brought 
to  bear  to  induce  those  people  to  fill  that  seam  as  that  one  is 
filled.  Now,  notice  how  that  is  open  all  the  way  around  there  ? 
You  set  them  out  on  a  sunny  day  in  the  sun  and  see  how  bright 
they  are.  In  fact,  when  I  was  milk  inspector,  the  cans  were 
set  out  on  a  platform  at  the  rear  of  the  place,  where  there 
were  flats,  and  the  tenants  entered  a  protest  against  them  and 
I  had  to  remove  those  cans,  because  of  the  sun  shining  on  them. 
They  can  be  cleaned  by  turning  them  bottom  side  up  over  a 
jet  of  steam.  The  steam  going  up  into  a  forty  quart  can  does 
not  thoroughly  sterilize  it.  What  I  was  going  to  say  was  that 
you  would  have  thought  they  would  have  put  a  two  inch  band 
on  this  can  around  here  (indicating)  if  they  wanted  to  make 
the  best  can  they  could,  and  that  after  they  put  in  that  band, 
they  would  have  soldered  all  around  it,  so  the  milk  would  run 
off.  But  they  didn't ;  they  soldered  it  around  the  bottom,  so 
the  milk  would  run  in  there  and  could  not  run  off.  Now,  why 
is  that  (indicating)  the  most  important  seam  on  the  can? 
That  seam  right  there,  I  mean.  Let  me  tell  you.  Yrou  will 
see  two  men  take  hold  of  this  can  of  milk  when  they  are  filling 
the  bottles,  and  when  they  get  it  almost  full,  they  tilt  that  off. 
Now,  that  seam  gets  full  of  decayed  milk.  I  have  seen 
them  pour  it  over  into  the  can  again,  and  stick  the  end  of  the 
can  down  in  the  milk  and  wash  it  off,  and  I  have  seen  the  milk 
of  a  different  color  where  it  had  been  dripping  in. 

Now,  don't  you  see  the  great  importance  of  that?  Can  you 
not  see  the  advantage  of  these  two  important  things  on  the  milk 
can,  this  one  here  and  this  one  here,  around  the  rim?  (Indi- 
cating.) 

Here  is  another  thing:  This  is  one  of  the  common  things. 
That  is  in  position  for  the  milk  to  be  in,  with  the  lid  left  that 
way.  (Indicating.)  It  is  all  full  of  milk  now.  I  have  stood 
and  watched  them  and  seen  the  rusty  milk  drop  out  of  the  rim 
into  the  can. 

What  we  need  to-day  is  to  bring  an  influence  to  bear  that 


136      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

shall  procure  the  closing  of  that  seam.  If  there  is  any  one 
here  who  can  think  of  any  objection  to  what  I  am  urging,  I 
hope  they  will  let  it  be  known,  for  personally,  I  cannot  think 
of  any.  The  can  is  stronger  and  it  can  be  kept  clean  more 
easily,  and  it  will  last  quite  as  long.  I  see  everything  that  will 
warrant  our  insisting  upon  cans  being  made  in  that  way,  and 
I  can  see  no  objection  to  them. 

THE  CHAIRMAN  :  I  know  that  all  the  practical  persons  here  will 
realize  that  these  are  not  little  things.  It  is  a  hard  thing  to  get 
these  apparently  small  matters  attended  to.  I  know  that  in  the  Milk 
Commission  of  New  York  we  had  a  woman  appointed  chief  in- 
spector, because  she  will  see  the  smaller  things  which  are  so  imr 
portant,  whereas  just  a  man  would  pass  them  over  as  being  hardly 
worthy  of  his  attention.  Those  of  us  who  have  examined  bacterio- 
logically  a  little  old  milk  know  how  a  drop  of  it  may  have  a  hun- 
dred million  bacteria.  When  such  a  drop  of  milk  gets  into  a  can 
of  good,  fresh  milk,  you  can  see  what  the  result  will  be. 

We  have  come  now  to  the  time  of  discussion,  and  the  Chairman 
has  asked  me  to  ask  you  to  limit  the  discussion  of  the  whole  matter 
to  only  one  individual,  leaving  later  discussions  to  come  under  the 
various  resolutions  which  the  Chairman  will  give  me,  and  so  I  am 
going  to  ask,  with  your  permission,  that  Prof.  Harding,  of  the 
Geneva  Experiment  Station,  who  has  done  so  much  and  written  so 
much  on  this  line  of  work,  close  the  discussion  for  us. 

PROF.  HARDING  spoke  as  follows: 

Mr.  Chairman  and  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  I  realize  that  the 
hour  is  late  and  that  you  have  had  a  long  session,  and  that  you 
have  here  important  questions  before  you,  but  I  think,  at  this  time, 
some  things  ought  to  be  said  on  the  side  of  the  individual  who  is 
so  frequently  told  "Put  up  or  shut  up,"  the  milk  producer. 

Now,  the  situation  in  which  the  milk  producer  finds  himself  is 
this:  To  produce  a  thoroughly  satisfactory  grade  of  milk,  such 
as  you  gentlemen  desire  to  have  furnished  in  New  York  City,  re- 
quires four  cents  on  the  farm,  to  give  the  farmer  a  reasonable  re- 
turn for  his  investment  in  time  and  labor.  He  is  actually  getting 
a  little  more  than  three  cents  in  the  State  of  New  York  to-day. 
That  milk  which  he  is  producing  is  almost  exclusively  purchased 
on  the  basis  of  what  it  weighs  or  what  it  may  weigh.  Every  pound 
of  fertilizer  which  he  puts  into  that  milk  is  worth  to  him,  on  the 
market,  nearly  two  cents,  and  he  asks,  when  he  is  producing  this 
milk,  what  it  can  be  economically  produced  for,  and  then  you  ask 
him  to  take  out  that  for  which  you  are  not  willing  to  pay  him,  and 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  137 

reject  it  without  raising  the  price.  Now  that  is  the  situation  that 
really  encourages  him  to  "put  up."  Doesn't  it  encourage  him  to 
"shut  up/'  and,  as  a  result,  is  he  not  going  out  of  the  dairy  busi- 
ness rapidly? 

That  this  is  not  an  exaggerated  statement  of  the  situation,  is 
proved  by  the  investigation  which  has  been  carried  on  at  Cornell 
University.  In  the  matter  presented  to  us  yesterday,  it  was 
pointed  out  that  among  the  agricultural  population,  the  men  who 
were  devoting  themselves  to  the  milk  business  in  the  State  of  New 
York  were  the  men  who  were  making  the  least,  and  whose  financial 
returns  were  the  lowest  of  all  classes  of  agriculture  in  the  state. 
That  being  the  situation,  the  question  of  standards  is  now  before 
us.  Milk  standards  is  the  subject  of  our  discussion  for  this  after- 
noon. Now,  the  object  of  any  milk  standard,  as  I  take  it,  is  to 
produce  results.  What  you  want  is  a  better  milk,  and  the  reason  you 
devise  standards  of  various  sorts  is  to  facilitate  the  preparation 
and  sale  of  that  better  milk.  That  is  the  kernel  of  the  whole  situ- 
ation. Now,  do  we  not  need  the  standards  that  are  simplest  and 
which  are  most  readily  understood  by  all  parties  connected  with 
the  use  of  those  standards?  Have  we  not  failed  to  make  progress 
in  many  instances,  because  we  have  devised  standards  which  were 
so  technical  that  the  people  on  the  producing  side  of  the  proposi- 
tion were  entirely  at  sea  regarding  the  relation  of  those  standards 
to  themselves?  It  is  rather  a  far  cry  from  a  definite  standard  of 
so  many  bacteria  per  cubic  centimetre  to  the  question  of  how  the 
farmer  shall  manipulate  his  dairy  business.  I  realize  that  there 
has  been  a  strong  movement  on  the  part  of  those  most  interested 
in  milk  hygiene,  to  furnish  the  farmer  with  ready-made  directions1 
for  running  his  business.  I  think  as  fine  an  illustration  of  that 
as  I  ever  saw  was  at  Atlantic  City,  at  the  first  meeting  of  the  Cer- 
tified Milk  Commission.  They  were  engaged  there  in  formulating 
the  details  of  the  milk  business.  They  had  reached  the  stage 
where  it  was  being  "resoluted"  that  in  the  collection  of  milk  bot- 
tles from  the  houses  throughout  the  city,  the  milk  dealers  should 
provide  a  separate  wagon  to  haul  those  bottles  that  had  come  from 
places  where  contagious  diseases  had  existed,  and  that  a  separate 
place  should  be  provided,  to  sterilize  those  bottles  before  they  were 
allowed  to  be  taken  into  the  regular  depots,  so  as  to  avoid,  thereby, 
the  danger  of  contaminating  the  regular  milk  bottles.  I  see  Mr. 
Francisco  chuckling  a  little,  and  I  want  to  say  that  it  certainly  was 
amusing. 

At  Geneva  we  have  been  doing  some  experimental  work  in  the 
milk  handling  business.  We  have  been  trying  to  find  what  the  fac- 
tors are  that  will  actually  elevate  the  quality  of  the  milk  to  a  higher 


138      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

standard.  Now,  it  may  be  that  there  is  a  vast  difference  between 
a  city  of  15,000  and  a  city  like  New  York,  and  that  any  results 
obtained  on  that  small  scale  can  hardly  be  transplanted  to  a  city 
of  this  size,  but  still  the  fundamental  things  which  will  affect  the 
situation  in  one  place  may  often  be  applied  in  another.  Experi- 
ments, of  course,  were  not  conducted  solely  for  your  benefit.  Per- 
haps it  is  unkind  to  put  it  that  way,  but  the  fact  is  that  you  are 
thoroughly  able  to  do  things  by  yourselves,  while  in  the  State  of 
New  York  and  surrounding  states,  a  large  number  of  the  cities  of 
the  second  and  third  class  are  at  present  doing  little  or  nothing  to 
improve  their  milk  supplies.  There  needs,  you  will  see,  to  be  a 
compact  and  workable  method  to  protect  the  milk  supplies  in  this 
state  and  surrounding  states. 

The  principles  that  were  applied  in  this  experiment  were  these: 
An  effort  was  made,  first,  to  find  out  what  the  facts  were  regarding 
the  quality  of  milk  being  supplied  to  the  public,  and  then  present- 
ing these  facts  to  the  consumer,  the  consuming  public,  so  that  they 
might  buy  their  milk  more  intelligently.  There  is  no  reason  why 
they  should  not  be  able  to  buy  their  milk  as  intelligently  as  they 
buy  their  cotton  cloth,  or  any  of  the  other  commodities  that  they 
use,  which  are  offered  to  them  in  various  grades.  The  Board  was 
supposed  to  find  out  the  sanitary  conditions  under  which  the  va- 
rious milks  which  were  offered  to  the  public  were  produced,  the 
influences  which  they  had  been  exposed  to,  and,  in  some  tangible 
way,  to  present  it  to  the  consuming  public,  so  that  they  might  deal 
with  the  producers  on  the  basis  of  the  quality  of  the  goods  pro- 
duced. 

The  great  difficulty  in  the  situation  of  the  milk  supply  of  New 
York  City,  and  all  other  cities,  practically,  of  the  state,  is  the  fact 
that  the  poorest  milk  receives  the  same  financial  rewards,  practi- 
cally, as  the  best  milk. 

As  a  result  of  our  experience  at  Geneva,  I  feel  sure  that  the 
milk  supply  of  New  York  City  could  be  brought  up  to  any  desired 
standard  of  excellence,  provided  it  was  paid  for  on  the  basis  of  the 
actual  quality  of  the  goods  produced.  (Applause.)  The  first 
thing  is  to  find  out  the  actual  situation  regarding  the  milk  supply, 
and  to  express  that  in  some  intelligible  way.  Scoring  is  an  old 
practice,  and  we  adopted  the  score  card  as  a  means  of  expressing 
the  situation  as  found  by  the  inspectors  of  the  dairies  furnishing 
the  milk  to  our  city.  We  found  that  a  third  of  it  would  class  as 
poor  milk,  the  rest  of  it,  perhaps,  as  medium,  with  a  little  streak 
of  good  milk  at  the  top.  (Indicating  on  diagram.)  That  (indi- 
cating) represents  the  milk  which  is  filthy;  that  (indicating)  rep- 
resents milk  which  is  fairly  good  but  not  tuberculin  tested,  and 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  139 

deficient  in  some  features,  but  what  we  naturally  would  call  a  good 
milk  supply. 

This  (indicating)  is  a  sort  of  intermediate  grade  of  milk,,  be- 
tween. It  is  dirty,  without  being  filthy.  That  is  the  situation  we 
found  in  the  Geneva  milk  supply. 

At  a  meeting  of  the  producers,  so-called,  the  situation  was  ex- 
plained to  them  and  the  condition  in  which  we  had  actually  found 
the  milk  supply  was  explained  to  them.  They  were  told  to  pro- 
duce the  milk  in  any  way  that  they  wanted;  that  that  was  their 
business.  It  was  explained  to  them  that  the  facts  as  to  their  milk 
production  would  be  given  to  the  consuming  public,  and  that  it  was 
hoped  the  consuming  public  would  evince  some  intelligence  in  re- 
gard to  its  purchase ;  that  we  believed  that  if  they  wanted  to  parade 
the  streets  with  a  sign  on  their  wagon,  "This  wagon  sells  poor 
milk"  that  it  was  their  privilege,  but  that  we  did  not  believe  it 
would  be  a  good  financial  proposition. 

We  held  these  men,  as  I  say,  to  results.  We  left  them  entirely 
free  in  regard  to  their  methods  of  obtaining  those  results.  I  have 
been  for  nearly  thirty  years  in  close  contact  with  one  phase  or  an- 
other of  the  dairy  business,  and  I  do  not  yet  know  enough  about 
the  dairy  business  to  be  prepared  to  advise  a  farmer  on  the  details 
about  running  his  dairy.  I  doubt  whether  there  are  half  a  dozen 
men  in  this  audience  who  know  enough  about  the  dairy  business  to 
take  a  dairy  farm  as  a  specific  proposition — and  tell  the  dairyman 
how  to  run  his  business,  unless  they  have  previously  given  time  to 
study  the  situation.  Because  the  actual  details  of  running  a  diary 
business  vary  widely  with  the  conditions  under  which  production 
actually  takes  place. 

These  scorings  were  computed  at  every  quarter,  but  the  last  quar- 
ter of  each  year  is  given  so  as  to  give  you  the  results  briefly.  That 
is  a  transformation  which  had  been  brought  about  in  the  milk  sup- 
ply of  Geneva  in  the  twelve  months,  simply  by  telling  the  men  that 
we  were  giving  them  a  fair  deal.  (Indicating  diagram.)  If  they 
produced  a  good  line  of  goods,  credit  would  be  given  to  them  for  it. 
About  half  of  this  milk  was  being  sold  by  the  men  who  produced 
it,  so  that  they  had  a  direct  pecuniary  interest  in  the  result.  It 
meant  business  for  them  to  be  on  the  list  that  was  producing  good 
milk. 

These  results,  I  may  say,  were  not  given  to  the  public  until  to- 
wards the  close  of  this  year.  First  the  producer  and  the  retailer 
were  furnished  with  the  facts  as  to  the  standing  of  the  dairies,  the 
retailer  being  furnished  with  the  standing  of  the  various  plants, 
so  that  the  contracts  between  those  men  might  be  brought  on  a 
definite  basis  of  results  and  guaranteed  results.  Ordinarily  the 


140      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

milkmen  make  a  contract  with  the  producers  and  the  dealers,  which 
states  that  they  shall  produce  good  milk,  and  if  it  turns  out  that 
the  milk  is  bad,  why,  you  cannot  do  anything  about  it.  You  have 
no  clear,  good  basis  on  which  to  make  a  contract.  This  was  the 
basis  that  we  arrived  at,  and  I  may  say  that,  during  this  year,  a 
part  of  the  milk  was  handled  by  a  large  company,  and  more  than 
half  of  it  was  handled  by  small  retailers.  This  was  the  situation 
in  1909-  (Indicating  chart.)  This  sharp  drop  from  there  to  there 
(indicating)  is  due  to  the  fact  that  about  half  of  the  milk  was  con- 
tracted for  this  year  on  a  sliding  scale,  consisting  of  a  standard 
price  for  good  milk,  in  the  good  class,  and  a  half  a  cent  addi- 
tional for  milk  in  the  excellent  class,  and  a  cut  of  half  a  cent  if 
milk  is  in  the  medium  class.  The  practice  makes  good  milk  a  good 
business  proposition,  and  when  the  milk  comes  up  to  that  standard, 
and  the  price  is  forthcoming  at  once,  it  makes  the  production  of 
that  milk  profitable.  The  farmers,  out  of  self-respect,  make  an 
article  as  good  as  they  can  for  the  price  that  they  receive. 

This  situation  has  continued  until,  in  1910,  not  at  the  end  of  the 
year,  but  at  the  close  of  the  third  quarter,  of  the  year,  this  is  our 
situation:  (Indicating  chart.)  In  this  year  the  milk  was  practi- 
cally all  contracted  for  on  the  basis  of  our  official  score.  The  con- 
tract between  the  men  is  on  the  sliding  scale,  based  upon  the  offi- 
cial score.  If  the  milk  is  in  the  excellent  class,  a  certain  extra 
price  is  given;  if  it  falls  to  the  medium  class,  the  price  is  cut. 
This  is  the  effect  of  the  law  of  supply  and  demand.  The  farmers 
rose  to  the  situation  just  as  rapidly  as  the  financial  returns  made 
it  possible  for  them  to  do  so. 

Now,  we  came  to  another  aspect  of  the  situation.  The  price 
had  risen  until  the  wholesale  price  of  milk  had  gone  up  to  three 
and  a  half  cents  for  good  and  four  cents  for  excellent  grades.  At 
the  same  time,  milk  was  being  produced  within  six  miles  of  Geneva, 
that  sold  during  a  part  of  the  year,  I  believe,  for  two  and  a  half 
cents  at  the  milk  station.  There  you  have  the  situation.  There 
was  a  strong  tendency  for  the  milk  outside  to  break  into  our  mar- 
ket because  the  difference  in  price  gave  a  dealer  the  idea  that  it 
would  be  a  good  plan  to  buy  this  cheap  milk,  which  could  be  bought 
at  around  three  cents  or  a  little  over,  and  retail  it  in  our  market, 
trusting  to  the  foolishness  of  the  consuming  public  to  buy  a  cheap 
milk  at  a  cent  a  quart  less  than  the  best  milk  would  sell  for. 

Now,  there  is  enough  intelligence  in  this  city,  as  to  milk,  to  war- 
rant the  effort  to  sell  the  one  per  cent  of  high  grade  milk  that  is 
used.  When  you  figure  one  per  cent  on  the  basis  of  a  city  of  20,- 
000,  it  does  not  leave  a  very  large  number  of  people  to  buy  high 
grade  milk,  and  if  the  other  ninety-nine  per  cent  prefer  to  still  buy 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  141 

for  seven  cents,  when  good  milk  costs  eight  cents,  you  are  facing 
the  situation  that  is  going  to  happen.  I  have  asked  what  the  re- 
sult would  be.  I  believe  the  results  will  be  that  the  retailer  who 
buys  milk  on  the  basis  of  its  sanitary  quality,  and  pays  accord- 
ingly, will  get  the  highest  quality  of  it,  purchasing  it,  of  course,  as 
economically  as  he  can.  He  may,  in  turn,  find  himself  in  deep 
water  financially  if  he  brings  his  milk  up  to  a  grade  higher  in  sani- 
tary quality  than  the  public  has  intelligence  enough  to  buy.  So, 
in  the  last  analysis  of  the  milk  situation,  the  stumbling  block  in  the 
improvement  is  the  disinclination  of  the  consuming  public  to  pay* 
for  sanitary  milk,  what  it  reasonably  costs  to  produce  it.  Now, 
this  result  came  very  largely  as  a  surprise  to  me,  because  I  had 
no  conception  that  the  situation  had  improved  so  rapidly.  By 
leaving  the  details  of  the  business  of  milk  making  entirely  in  the 
hands  of  the  producer  and  holding  him  accountable  for  results, 
the  quality  of  the  milk  has  greatly  improved.  Our  inspector  went 
once  or  twice  per  quarter  to  see  the  dairies.  The  financial  returns 
of  those  dairies  depended,  of  course,  upon  the  inspector's  finding 
everything  all  right.  The  dairymen  could  not  afford  to  take 
chances  by  being  slack  in  their  methods,  because  the  inspector  was 
likely  to  drop  in  at  any  time,  and  it  might  cost  him  quite  a  good 
many  dollars,  for  half  a  cent  in  the  price  of  milk,  for  a  quarter,  is 
a  factor  that  cannot  be  overlooked  in  the  present  economics  of 
milk  production.  The  result  was  that  those  producers  were  pretty 
careful  at  all  times  to  see  to  keeping  things  so  that  there  would 
be  no  danger  of  falling  into  the  grade  below  and  losing  the  quarter's 
rate  on  their  milk.  In  other  words,  instead  of  fighting  the  in- 
spector, as  has  been  done  in  too  many  cases,  they  have  gotten  on 
extremely  pleasantly  with  all  concerned. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  The  last  address  reminds  me  of  a  very  short 
story.  A  friend  of  mine  who  had  a  colored  servant,  severely 
reprimanded  him  for  some  failure  to  follow  his  directions.  The 
colored  man  said,  "Master,  you  can't  expect  a  Daniel  Webster 
brain  for  a  dollar  a  day."  I  think  that  consumers  should  know 
that  they  have  got  enough  to  keep  intelligent  men  on  the  farms, 
and  we  have  got  to  pay  them  enough  to  enable  them  to  have  the 
proper  help  to  do  their  work.  I  know  that  for  three-quarters  of  a 
cent  more  we  can  get  very  good  conditions  on  a  great  many  farms, 
but  we  have  got  to  pay  them  or  the  men  cannot  afford  to  produce 
good  milk,  and  there  is  no  reason  why  they  should  be  forced  to  do  it. 

Now,  we  have  come  to  the  matter  of  the  results  of  this  meeting, 
and  I  am  going  to  ask  those  of  you  who  have  anything  to  discuss, 
as  to  these  resolutions,  to  do  so  in  the  very  briefest  time  possible,  as 
we  have  very  little  time  at  our  disposal. 


142      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

I  want  to  have  you  remember  that  in  acting  on  these  resolutions, 
in  a  way,  you  are  sizing  up  your  own  judgment,  because  we  may  at- 
tempt something  to-day,  and  next  year  find  that  something  else  is 
better,  and  that  another  conference  is  adopting  resolutions  setting 
forth  more  enlightened  views.  So,  although  I  do  not  ask  you 
to  adopt  resolutions  which,  as  I  understand,  are  impersonal  and  not 
made  up  by  the  Chairman  of  the  Resolution  Committee,  I  ask 
you  to  think  carefully  before  you  either  vote  them  down  or  vote 
for  them. 

Now,  I  believe  that  Dr.  Wile  has  something  to  read. 

DR.  I.  S.  WILE,  CHAIRMAN,  Conference  Committee:  Mr.  Chair- 
man and  Ladies  and  Gentlemen,  the  Committee  on  Resolutions  has 
a  number  of  resolutions  that  have  come  through  its  hands.  I 
merely  wish  to  add  to  what  Dr.  Park  has  already  stated,  that  in 
presenting  these  resolutions,  as  Chairman  of  the  Resolutions  Com- 
mittee, there  is  absolutely  nothing  personal  in  the  resolutions. 
The  identity  of  the  proposers  of  all  the  resolutions  is  carefully 
concealed,  instead  of  having  them  proposed  by  several  different 
men  on  the  floor. 

The  first  resolution,  Mr.  Chairman,  is  as  follows: 

"Resolved,  That  the  State  Agricultural  Law  should  be 
amended  so  as  to  prohibit  gross  or  fraudulent  misrepresenta- 
tion concerning  the  composition,  or  sanitary  quality  of  milk  or 
cream,  offered  for  sale,  and  the  Commissioner  of  Agriculture 
should  be  authorized  to  define  different  grades  of  milk  or  cream 
and  publish  such  definitions,  and  any  person  who  designates  any 
milk  or  cream  to  be  in  any  grade  when  it  does  not  conform  to 
the  definition  of  that  grade,  shall  be  deemed  guilty  of  fraudu- 
lent misrepresentation." 

(It  was  moved  and  seconded  that  the  resolution  be  adopted.) 

A  VOICE:  I  would  like  very  much  to  hear  the  resolution  read 
a  second  time. 

(Resolution  again  read.) 

THE  CHAIRMAN:     Is  there  any  discussion  on  this? 

A  VOICE:  Mr.  Chairman,  we  are  all  supposed  to  act  intelli- 
gently on  these  things  or  not  vote  at  all.  Can  the  Chairman  tell 
us  what  that  means? 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  I  think  the  speaker  has  the  same  amount  of 
intelligence  as  the  Chairman.  It  seems  to  me  thoroughly  clear  in 
its  general  intent,  which  is  that  we  shall  first  prohibit  misrepre- 
sentation, and  then  brand  the  man  who  does  misrepresent. 

A  VOICE:  How  are  we  going  to  arrive  at  any  such  standard? 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  143 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  The  time  is  very  short,  and  the  Chairman 
has  not  seen  these  except  at  this  minute,  and  I  can  hardly  explain 
them  to  the  committee.  Is  there  any  other  discussion? 

MR.  ROOT:  I  am  in  the  same  predicament  as  my  friend.  I 
am  a  purchaser  of  milk  and  a  dealer,  and  I  have  been  for  the  past 
thirty-five  years,  and  I  can't  understand  that  resolution.  We  are 
dealing  with  nature  now,  and  there  are  such  variations  in  nature 
and  in  the  changes  in  milk — the  milk  that  the  same  cow  will  give 
from  time  to  time, — that  to  arrive  at  that  standard  seems  to  me  to  be 
an  impossible  proposition. 

DR.  WILE:  That  resolution  seems  perfectly  clear,  inasmuch  as 
the  Department  of  Agriculture  has  already  established  grades  of 
milk,  the  Department  of  Health  of  the  City  of  New  York  has  al- 
ready established  grades  of  milk,  and  various  states  and  municipal- 
ities have  established  grades  of  milk.  There  does  not  seem  to  be 
any  difficulty  in  understanding  what  "grades  of  milk"  means. 
(Applause.) 

DR.  ROSENAU:  I  would  like  to  know  whether  this  would  meet 
with  the  approval  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture  of  the  State  of 
New  York? 

DR.  WILE:  I  may  say  that  the  resolution  does  meet  with  the 
approval  of  the  Department  of  Agriculture  of  the  State  of  New 
York. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  It  seems  to  me  that  it  is  a  matter  of  detail  as 
to  the  denning  of  these  grades.  As  Dr.  Wile  says,  it  has  been 
done,  and  I  am  sure  it  can  be  done. 

(The  motion  was  carried  and  the  resolution  was  adopted.) 

DR.  WILE:  The  second  resolution,  Mr.  Chairman,  may  even 
cast  a  little  better  light  upon  what  the  previous  resolution  means, 
although  it  has  come  from  an  entirely  different  source.  It  is  as 
follows : 

"Resolved,  That  pending  the  adoption  of  national  standards, 
the  Conference  on  Milk  Problems  of  the  New  York  Milk  Com- 
mittee endorse  the  classification  of  milk  recommended  by  A. 
D.  Melvin,  Chief  of  Bureau  of  Animal  Industries  of  the  United 
States  Department  of  Agriculture,  approved  by  the  Milk  Con- 
ference of  the  District  of  Columbia  of  1907,  and  published  in 
Circular  114«  of  the  Bureau  of  Animal  Industries  and  in  Bul- 
letins 41  and  56  of  the  U.  S.  Public  Health  and  Marine  Hos- 
pital Service. 

This  classification  designates  three  kinds  of  milk;  Certified, 
Inspected  and  Pasteurized. 


144      CONFERENCE,  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

1.  Certified  milk  must  be  produced  in  accordance  with  the 
requirements   of   the   American  Association   of   Medical  Milk 
Commissions. 

2.  Inspected  milk  must  be  a  wholesome,  clean  article,  ob- 
tained under  sanitary  conditions  from  cows  shown  to  be  free 
from  tuberculosis  by  the  tuberculin  test  and  containing  not 
more  than  100,000  bacteria  per  cubic  centimeter. 

S.  Pasteurized  milk  must  be  a  clean,  inspected  milk,  which 
has  been  properly  pasteurized  under  an  official  standard  in  es- 
tablishments which  shall  at  all  times  be  subject  to  inspection 
and  tests  by  public  inspectors." 

MR.  DANA  :     I  move  the  adoption  of  the  resolution. 

(The  motion  was  duly  seconded.) 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  Is  there  any  discussion? 

MR.  DANA:  I  am  heartily  in  favor  of  the  adoption  of  that  reso- 
lution, because,  in  connection  with  the  excellent  address  and  re- 
marks of  Prof.  Harding,  it  seems  to  be  directly  in  line.  It  gives 
the  dealer  in  New  York  City  or  in  the  smaller  city  the  opportunity 
to  buy  and  place  upon  his  wagon  inspected  milk,  and  it  gives  him 
the  right  to  so  advertise.  Then  he  goes  to  the  producer  and  pays 
a  premium  to  get  it.  The  housewife  who  buys  that  milk  knows 
what  she  is  getting. 

In  the  milk  dealing  that  has  been  engaged  in  in  the  past,  the 
lowest  possible  quality  of  milk  has  fixed  the  price  of  milk.  Now, 
I  know,  in  the  City  of  Rochester,  there  is  a  dealer  there  who  is 
willing  to  pay  a  premium  for  good  milk,  if  he  can  only  be  assured 
that  he  will  be  protected  in  the  sale  of  that  milk,  and  that  other 
men  would  have  to  buy  equally  as  good  milk  if  they  sold  it  as  in- 
spected milk.  (Applause.) 

(The  motion  was  carried  and  the  resolution  adopted.) 

DR.  WILE:  In  view  of  the  paper  of  Dr.  VanSlyke,  the  next 
resolution  will  undoubtedly  elicit  some  discussion. 

"Resolved,  That  it  is  the  sense  of  this  meeting  that  it  is 
desirable  that  state  standards  for  the  chemical  standards  for 
milk  should  as  rapidly  as  possible  be  brought  to  conform  with 
the  Federal  standard  of  3.25  per  cent  fat  and  8.5  per  cent 
solids  not  fat." 

(It  was  moved  and  seconded  that  the  resolution  be  adopted.) 
THE  CHAIRMAN:     It  is  now  before  you.     Is  there  any  discussion? 
It  is  a  somewhat  technical  subject. 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  145 

DR.  WILE:     I  may  say,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  this  resolution  has 
been  submitted  to  Dr.  VanSlyke  and  meets  with  his  approval. 
(The  motion  was  carried  and  the  resolution  was  adopted.) 
DR.  WILE  :     The  next  resolution  is  as  follows : 

"Resolved,  That  it  is  the  sense  of  this  conference  that  all 
milk  which  does  not  come  from  tuberculin  tested  cows  kept  un- 
der conditions  which  satisfy  the  highest  medical  and  sanitary 
standards,  should  be  pasteurized." 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  Does  anyone  move  the  adoption  of  this  reso- 
lution ? 

A  VOICE:  Mr.  Chairman,  I  do  not  see  any  necessity  for  that 
resolution.  We  have  just  passed  a  resolution,  a  few  minutes  ago, 
adopting  a  classification  which  thoroughly  takes  care  of  it.  You 
have  the  certified  milk,  the  inspected  milk  and  the  pasteurized  milk, 
and  so  I  move  to  lay  it  on  the  table. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:     This  goes  further  than  the  other. 

A  VOICE:     But  the  other  covers  it  satisfactorily. 

(The  motion  to  lay  it  on  the  table  was  seconded.) 

THE  CHAIRMAN  :  It  has  been  moved  and  seconded  that  it  be  laid 
on  the  table.  The  motion  that  it  be  laid  on  the  table  is  not  de- 
batable. 

(The  motion  was  carried  and  the  resolution  was  laid  on  the 
table.) 

DR.  WILE:  Mr.  Chairman,  the  next  is  rather  a  long  resolution: 

"WHEREAS,  Dairy  products  are  among  the  most  valuable 
assets  of  the  world,  billions  of  capital  being  invested  in  them 
in  the  United  States  alone,  and 

WHEREAS,  Milk,  cream,  butter  and  cheese  are  the  most  gen- 
erally employed  articles  of  food  and  have  been  proved  by  in- 
disputable evidence  to  be  readily  contaminated  by  disease  pro- 
ducing germs,  thus  greatly  impairing  the  public  health  and 
increasing  the  general  mortality  rate,  and 

WHEREAS,  The  dissemination  of  disease  by  dirty  products 
has  been  pointed  out  by  numerous  writers  the  world  over  and 
has  in  this  country  been  especially  demonstrated  in  Circulars 
114,  118  and  153  of  the  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry  of  the  U. 
S.  Department  of  Agriculture  and  Bulletins  41  and  56, 
Bureau  of  Public  Health  and  Marine  Hospital  Service,  and 

WHEREAS,  These  facts  have  been  confirmed  by  numerous  au- 
thorities here  and  in  Europe  and  have  been  recognized  within 


146      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

the  past  month  by  the  U.  S.  Department  of  Agriculture,  the 
U.  S.  Department  of  the  Interior,  the  U.  S.  Department  of 
Commerce  and  Labor,  the  U.  S.  Navy  Department  and  by  the 
Commissioners  of  the  District  of  Columbia, 

Be  it  Resolved,  That  the  United  States  Congress  be  requested 
to  appoint  a  joint  committee  to  investigate  the  question  of 
dairy  products  in  their  relation  to  the  public  health,  in  order 
that  proper  standards  for  dairy  products  may  be  adopted  by 
the  United  States  Congress,  and 

Be  it  -further  Resolved,  That  a  copy  of  these  resolutions  be 
sent  to  the  President  of  the  United  States,  to  the  Vice-Presi- 
dent,  to  the  Speaker  of  the  House  of  Representatives,  to  the 
Chairman  of  the  Public  Health  Committee  of  the  United 
States  Senate  and  to  the  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Agri- 
culture of  the  U.  S.  House  of  Representatives." 

(It  was  moved  and  seconded  that  the  resolution  be  adopted.) 
THE    CHAIRMAN:     Gentlemen,   it   is   before  you   for   discussion. 
Has  anyone  anything  to  say? 

(The  motion  was  carried  and  the  resolution  adopted.) 
DR.  WILE:     The  next  resolution  is  as  follows: 

"WHEREAS,  It  has  been  demonstrated  by  the  papers  and  the 
discussions  at  this  conference,  held  at  the  invitation  of  the  New 
York  Milk  Committee,  that  it  is  imperative  that  definite  stand- 
ards and  regulations  should  be  adopted  to  govern  the  produc- 
tion and  handling  of  dairy  products  for  the  prevention  of  dis- 
ease and  the  saving  of  lives, 

"Resolved,  That  the  New  York  Milk  Committee  be  re- 
quested to  invite  between  twelve  and  twenty  recognized  ex- 
perts on  milk  problems  to  meet  in  conference,  and  that  those 
experts  be  asked  to  make  a  unanimous  report  recommending 
proper  milk  standards  on  which  Congress  or  State  authorities 
may  formulate  milk  legislation." 

(It  was  moved  and  seconded  that  the  resolution  be  adopted.) 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  Is  there  any  discussion?  This  is  a  rather  im- 
portant matter.  Are  we  assuming  this  responsibility? 

A  VOICE:     I  move  to  strike  out  the  word  "unanimous." 

(The  motion  was  seconded.) 

THE  CHAIRMAN  :  It  has  been  moved  and  seconded  that  the  word 
"unanimous"  be  stricken  out. 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  147 

A  VOICE:  Mr.  Chairman,  I  think  the  word  "unanimous"  is  a 
very  wise  provision.  It  is  intended  that  this  report  should  have 
great  weight  in  the  formulation  of  legislation.  Now,  if  it  shows 
that  the  highest  authorities  cannot  agree,  it  would  be  well  to  in- 
vestigate until  they  can  agree,  before  having  that  resolution  go  out. 

DR.  SHROEDER:  We  would  like  to  know  on  what  matters  a  com- 
mittee of  this  kind  can  actually  come  to  one  conclusion,  so  I  think 
the  word  "unanimous"  should  by  all  means  remain  in  the  reso- 
lution. It  constitutes  the  very  strength  of  that  resolution. 

DR.  MAGRUDER:  Mr.  President,  I  can  endorse  that  statement 
from  personal  experience.  We  have  had  issued  from  Washington 
Circular  113,  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry,  known  as  "Sanitary 
Milk  Inspection."  It  is  the  report  of  the  Washington  Milk  Con- 
ference. That  report  was  issued  after  a  conference  of  all  the  con- 
tributors, and  it  was  unanimously  adopted,  and  for  that  reason 
that  little  pamphlet  of  thirty  or  forty  pages  is  a  world  wide  au- 
thority. If  we  can  get  equal  authority  for  a  report  here,  and  have 
the  unanimity  of  it  appear,  it  will  then  cause  so  much  light  to  be 
thrown  on  this  subject,  as  to  be  eminently  desirable. 

A  VOICE:  Mr.  Chairman,  I  think  the  producers  would  be  very 
glad  if  we  could  unite  on  anything  of  that  kind. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  The  question  is  on  the  amendment  to  strike 
out  the  word  "unanimous." 

(The  amendment  was  lost.) 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  The  word  "unanimous"  remains.  Now  the 
vote  is  on  the  motion  itself,  that  the  resolution  be  adopted,  as 
originally  read. 

(The  motion  was  carried  and  the  resolution  adopted.) 

DR.  WILE:  The  last  resolution  that  I  have  to  introduce,  Mr. 
Chairman,  is  a  resolution  that  was  offered  at  a  previous  meeting, 
but  owing  to  the  fact  that  one  or  two  words  were  not  quite  clear 
in  the  minds  of  some  of  the  members  present,  it  was  not  adopted. 
It  has  been  reintroduced  at  the  request  of  one  of  the  men  who 
formerly  rejected  the  proposition,  and  we  wish  to  see  what  the 
opinion  of  the  conference  is  to-day.  The  resolution  is  as  follows: 

"WHEREAS,  16,000  babies  die  annually  in  New  York  City, 
of  which  number  4000  are  killed  by  bad  milk  and  improper 
food,  and, 

"WHEREAS,  There  are  500,000  children  in  New  York  City 
under  five  years  of  age  whose  future  health  and  strength  de- 
pends upon  their  proper  nourishment  and  development,  and 


148      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

"WHEREAS,  Pure  milk  is  the  most  important  food  in  the  diet 
of  those  children, 

"Now,  THEREFORE,  BE  IT  RESOLVED,  That  the  problem  of  se- 
curing a  clean  safe  milk  for  babies  and  young  children  is  the 
most  immediate  and  pressing  problem  confronting  the  health 
authorities  of  this  city,  and  be  it  further 

"Resolved,  That  it  is  the  sense  of  this  conference  that  steps 
should  be  taken  to  label  milk  so  that  mothers  will  know  what 
milk  is  safe  for  their  babies  and  what  milk  they  must  avoid. 

"  Resolved,  That  it  is  the  sense  of  this  conference  that  milk, 
from  tuberculin  tested  cows,  produced  and  kept  under  condi- 
tions which  satisfy  the  highest  medical  and  sanitary  standards 
is  reasonably  safe  for  babies  in  a  raw  state. 

"Resolved,  That  it  is  the  sense  of  this  conference  that  milk 
from  cows  which  have  been  physically  examined  for  tubercu- 
losis, and  are  kept  on  farms  which  score  at  least  seventy-five 
per  cent  by  the  Health  Department's  methods,  is  safe  for 
babies  if  pasteurized  at  a  temperature  not  lower  than  4*0  de- 
grees F.  and  for  a  time  not  less  than  20  minutes ;  provided 
that  such  milk  has  a  bacteriological  count  not  higher  than  100,- 

000  per  cc.  before  pasteurization  and  not  more  than  10,000 
per  cc.  after  pasteurization. 

"Resolved,  That  it  is  the  sense  of  this  conference  that  all 
other  milk  is  not  safe  for  babies ;  that  it  should  be  pasteurized 
as  above  described;  and  that  it  should  be  recommended  for 
cooking  purposes  only  and  not  for  drinking  purposes. 

"Resolved,  That  this  conference  recommend  to  the  New 
York  Health  Authorities  that  an  effort  be  made  immediately  to 
secure  a  quantity  of  milk  of  Grades  1  and  2  above  described, 
sufficient  for  the  500,000  infants  and  children  under  five  years 
of  age  in  New  York  City." 

DR.  MAGRUDER:   Mr.  Chairman,  as  I  remember  that  resolution, 

1  would  like  to  move  that  it  be  adopted,  because  it  has  been  changed 
in  such  a  way  that  it  would  not  be  possible  to  object  to  it.     Here 
we   have  the   words    "milk   producers"    inserted.     Before   we   had 
"permitted."     Now  we  have  it  that  it  is  to  be  properly  produced 
and  kept,  which  makes  it  perfectly  satisfactory.     Then,  we  have 
that  clause  in  regard  to  its  being  reasonably  safe,  which  carries 
out  the  idea  that  you  have  advanced.     I   earnestly  hope  that  the 
resolution  will  be  adopted. 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  149 

MR.  CAMPBELL:  There  are  some  good  things  in  the  resolution, 
but  the  words  in  which  you  recommend  that  a  certain  portion  of  the 
milk  that  is  produced  be  not  used  for  drinking  purposes,  it  seems 
to  me,  would  deprive  about  nine-tenths  of  the  population  from 
getting  a  drink  of  milk. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:     I  don't  think  you  understood  this  correctly. 

MR.  CAMPBELL:     Possibly  I  have  not. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  It  is  for  babies;  not  for  the  mass  of  the 
people. 

MR.  CAMPBELL:  I  understood  that  it  read  that  the  supply  of 
milk  outside  of  certified  milk,  be  recommended  as  unfit  for  drinking 
purposes. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  No,  the  certified  milk  and  the  inspected  milk 
which  was  pasteurized — those  two  will  be  safe. 

MR.  CAMPBELL:  It  is  all  right,  then. 

MR.  WHITAKER:  Mr.  President,  doesn't  that,  in  a  way,  conflict 
with  a  resolution  that  has  been  already  adopted?  The  resolution 
calls  first,  for  milk  of  tuberculin  tested  herds,  produced  under 
conditions  which  meet  with  the  approval  of  the  highest  authority. 
That  is  very  strong  language.  Certified  milk  is  strictly  a  medical 
proposition.  This  resolution  does  not  allow  for  what  we  have 
already  countenanced  as  inspected  milk. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  As  I  understand  it,  this  really  is  following 
out  what  Mr.  Campbell  asked  for.  We  cannot  have  all  the  herds 
of  New  York  State  tuberculin  tested.  It  is  impossible  to  hope 
for  that.  During  that  time,  we  will  have  clean  milk  from  physi- 
cally tested  herds,  which  will  be  safeguarded  by  pasteurization. 

MR.  WHITAKER:  Isn't  that  ground  covered  sufficiently  in  the 
resolution  already  adopted? 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  It  allows  them  to  use,  for  infant  feeding,  milk 
which  does  not  come  under  the  two  higher  standards,  if  it  is 
decent  milk  and  pasteurized. 

MR.  CAMPBELL:  It  does  seem  to  me,  Mr.  Chairman,  that  these 
matters  are  geting  mixed.  The  United  States  Government,  as  we 
have  just  heard  here,  has  fixed  upon  three  grades  of  milk:  certified, 
inspected  and  pasteurized.  Please  do  not  give  us  too  many.  We 
want  to  get  clean  milk,  and  it  seems  to  me  there  can  be  but  two 
kinds,  clean  milk  and  milk  that  is  not  clean. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  Of  course,  we  are  up  against  a  fact.  We 
have  one  per  cent  of  certified  milk.  We  have  about  one  per  cent 
of  inspected  milk.  We  have  ninety-eight  per  cent  of  milk  which  is 
not  certified  or  inspected,  of  which  much  is  consumed  by  infants. 
Now,  this  is  to  safeguard  the  better  part  of  the  dairy  milk,  until 
we  can  get  more  of  it.  The  idea  of  this  is,  if  we  believe  in  it, 


150  CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

to  help  out  the  Health  Department  and  to  put  into  immediate  effect 
something  which  will  be  good  for  the  children. 

MR.  DANA:  Mr.  Chairman,  I  think  there  is  confusion  here 
somewhere.  The  resolution  formerly  adopted  was  with  reference 
to  the  great  body  and  mass  of  market  milk,  while  this  resolution  is 
with  reference  to  a  segment  of  milk,  known  as  baby  milk. 

DR.  GREEN:  Mr.  Chairman,  I  wish  to  utter  my  protest  against 
advising  any  mother  to  feed  her  child  raw  milk,  no  matter  from 
what  source  the  milk  is  secured.  Certified  milk  is  the  best  and 
most  free  from  infectious  germs.  Those  of  you  who  are  familiar 
with  the  matter  know  that  the  cows  in  the  herd,  although  they 
are  tuberculin  tested  when  the  annual  test  is  made,  are  not  alto- 
gether free  from  tuberculosis.  A  number  of  cows  are  almost  in- 
variably withdrawn  from  the  herd  because  they  show  tuberculous 
infection.  It  seems  to  me  absolutely  imperative  that  no  mother 
should  be  told  that  just  because  a  milk  is  certified  milk,  it  is  not  at 
all  necessary  for  her  to  heat  it.  This  resolution  distinctly  says  that 
it  is  to  be  fed  raw.  I  think  it  is  unnecessary  to  say  that  it  should 
be  fed  raw,  because  it  certainly  is  not,  at  times,  free  from  infectious 
germs. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:     This,  I  think  does  not  say  to  feed  it  raw. 

DR.  GREEN:  It  says  that  milk  should  be  given  raw,  as  I  re- 
member the  reading  of  it. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  It  says  that  it  is  reasonably  safe  for  babies  in 
a  raw  state.  Now,  it  is  my  idea,  that  we  are  adopting  the  opinion 
of  the  majority  of  infant  feeders,  but  many,  like  Dr.  Coit,  pas- 
teurize their  certified  milk. 

DR.  GREEN:  Then  why  say  they  may  take  it  raw?  Any- 
thing that  is  only  reasonably  safe  should  not  be  given  to  infants. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  Because,  if  we  say  "reasonably  safe"  we  are 
covering  the  opinion  of  a  majority. 

DR.  SHROEDER:  I  would  advise  leaving  that  clause  in  there. 
We  specifically  state  that  it  is  reasonably  safe,  and  we  do  not  say 
it  is  absolutely  safe,  and  we  must  bear  in  mind  that  we  have  one 
very  important  fact  to  deal  with,  and  that  is  the  enormous  preju- 
dice that  there  is  in  favor  of  raw  milk  among  physicians,  and  it 
is  a  good  thing  to  be  able  to  point  to  a  reasonably  safe  article.  It 
•supplies  a  present  demand.  I  personally  demonstrated  on  this 
platform  yesterday  that  I  will  consider  no  milk,  except  milk  pas- 
teurized under  official  supervision,  as  safe.  I  would  not  feed  the 
ibest  raw  milk  that  is  made  to  a  person  in  whom  I  am  interested,  and 
yet,  I  advocate  retaining  that  clause,  because,  as  I  said  a  moment 
#go,  we  are  up  against  that  fact,  the  prejudice  on  the  part  of  a 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  151 

large  number  of  physicians  in  favor  of  raw  milk.  We  have  got  to 
have  something  of  that  kind. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  It  would  be  very  difficult  for  the  Health  De- 
partment to  say  that  no  physician  should  have  raw  milk.  If  the 
majority  of  those  feeding  infants  think  that  raw  milk  is  preferable 
to  heated  milk,  all  we  can  do  then  is  to  say  that  it  must  be  pure 
and  safe  as  possible. 

MR.  CAMPBELL:  That  word  "reasonable/'  Mr.  Chairman,  is 
something  or  nothing.  You  can't  tell  what  it  means.  Now,  it  has 
been  plainly  demonstrated  here  that  even  in  the  production  of  cer- 
tified milk,  just  as  this  gentleman,  Dr.  Green,  has  said,  every  time 
you  get  your  herd  submitted  to  the  tuberculin  test,  there  are  al- 
ways a  few  animals  that  are  found  to  respond,  and  yet  you  have 
been  taking  that  milk  and  you  have  been  distributing  it  under  the 
words  "certified."  Now,  what  are  you  going  to  do  with  that? 
Isn't  this  the  safe  thing?  There  has  not  been  a  man  on  this  plat- 
form, either  yesterday  or  to-day,  who  has  not  recommended  the 
pasteurization  of  milk,  and  if  it  is  good  for  one  milk,  it  is  good  for 
all.  There  isn't  a  mother  who  does  not  heat  the  milk  when  she 
feeds  it  to  her  baby,  and  I  say  that  milk  to-day,  from  the  evidence 
that  has  been  produced  here,  if  it  is  properly  and  scientifically 
pasteurized,  is  safer  than  any  mother  can  cook  it  in  her  own  home. 
This  word  "reasonable"  should  not  be  left  in  there.  It  does  not 
mean  anything.  You  could  say  that  there  are  a  number  of  kinds 
of  milk  that  are  reasonably  safe.  What  we  want  are  facts  now, 
and  not  opinions. 

A  VOICE:     Will  you  please  read  the  resolution  now? 

(The  resolution  was  again  read.) 

DR.  GREEN:  I  move  an  amendment  to  the  resolution,  by  strik- 
ing out  the  words  "in  a  raw  state." 

(The  motion  was  seconded.) 

THE  CHAIRMAN:     The  amendment  is  now  open  to  discussion. 

DR.  GREEN:  The  discussion,  Mr.  Chairman,  is  just  this:  That 
that  phrase  "in  a  raw  state"  states  the  condition  in  which  it  is  to 
be  fed  to  children,  and  people  will  think  they  may  give  this  milk 
to  the  children.  If  the  phrase  "in  a  raw  state"  were  left  out  of 
that,  they  would  not  give  it  to  their  children  so  much  in  a  raw 
state. 

DR.  HAMILL:  I  would  like  to  ask  the  gentleman  who  just  spoke 
why  certified  milk  is  not  "reasonably  safe,"  and  I  would  like  to 
have  him  define  what  he  means  by  "reasonably  safe."  It  seems  to 
me  that  milk  which  is  safeguarded  to  the  extent  which  certified 
milk  is  safeguarded,  and  milk  that  experience  has  shown  to  be  as 


152      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

safe  as  certified  milk  has  been  shown  to  be,  can  certainly  be  classi- 
fied as  a  reasonably  safe  milk. 

Aside  from  that,  I  would  like  to  ask  another  question:  Is  pas- 
teurized milk,  as  commercially  pasteurized  to-day,  a  safe  product? 
I  would  like  very  much  to  be  informed  on  that  subj  ect. 

A  VOICE:  The  gentleman  is  out  of  order.  He  is  not  speaking 
to  the  question. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  I  think,  Dr.  Hamill,  you  are  out  of  order. 

DR.  HAMILL:  Well,  I  will  put  it  in  another  form,  if  I  may,  and 
I  will  state,  that  from  investigation,  the  pasteurized  milks,  as 
they  are  commercially  pasteurized  to-day,  I  am  convinced,  are  no 
more  safe  than  certified  milk,  and  much  of  it  is  less  safe  than  cer- 
tified milk. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  This  is  not  commercial  pasteurization.  This 
is  another  matter. 

DR.  HAMILL:  Well,  this  has  to  be  milk  which  is  not  pasteur- 
ized commercially? 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  It  must  be  pasteurized  at  least  for  20  min- 
utes at  140  degrees,  under  proper  safeguards. 

DR.  HAMILL:  I  do  not  wish  to  say  for  a  moment,  Mr.  Chair- 
man, that  I  do  not  approve  of  the  pasteurization  of  milk,  but  I 
think  we  are  considering  two  phases  of  the  problem  here,  both  of 
which  deserve  proper  consideration,  and  I  therefore  rise  to  speak 
on  the  subject  because  I  do  not  understand  what  the  gentlemen 
who  are  using  the  term  "reasonable"  mean  by  the  term  "reason- 
able." 

DR.  ROSENAU:  Mr.  Chairman,  I  move  that  the  further  discus- 
sion of  the  resolution  be  suspended  for  this  evening. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  This  is  the  last  resolution,  the  Chairman  of 
the  Resolutions  Committee  informs  me,  and  this  is  certainly  a  very 
important  resolution.  It  seems  to  me  that  we  ought  to  discuss  it 
a  little  more. 

MR.  HUTCHINSON:  Isn't  it  a  fact  that  a  temperature  of  140 
degrees  F.  maintained  for  20  minutes,  will  reduce  the  bacteria 
from  120,000  to  10,000? 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  It  will  reduce  it  further.  It  will  reduce  it 
down  to  2,000  or  3,000. 

DR.  HARDING:  I  believe  that  the  danger  of  cattle  reacting  from 
these  certified  milk  herds  is  the  basis  for  this  objection  to  the  raw 
milk  proposition.  Now,  those  of  you  who  are  familiar  with  the 
arrangement  of  the  rules  covering  it  and  calling  for  the  test  at 
specific  intervals,  know  that  the  intervals  for  the  test  were  chosen 
with  due  consideration  for  the  fact  that  there  would  in  some  cases 
be  reactions,  and  that  the  period  of  tests  should  be  sufficiently  fre- 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  153 

quent  so  that  these  animals  could  be  taken  out  of  the  herds  before 
their  infection  had  progressed  to  a  point  where  there  was  any  dan- 
ger to  the  milk  produced  by  the  animals.  There  is  a  distinct  dif- 
ference between  having  lesions  of  tuberculosis  in  an  animal,  and 
having  milk  from  the  animal  containing  tubercle  bacilli.  The  ar- 
rangement of  the  rules  governing  certified  milk  endeavors,  by 
means  of  the  frequent  tests,  to  catch  the  animals  before  there  is 
any  danger  of  infection  taking  place  from  the  animal  infected. 
So  the  fact  that  there  are  occasionally  reactions  in  the  herd  does 
not  necessarily  mean  that  the  milk  contains  the  bacilli  of  the  dis- 
ease. 

I  believe  that  the  motion  is  a  sensible  one  and  a  sane  one,  stating, 
as  it  does,  that  the  certified  milk  is  a  reasonably  safe  milk.  We 
must  not  lose  our  sense  of  proportion  and  balance  in  discussing 
these  fine  points,  or  we  shall  simply  make  ourselves  ridiculous  to 
the  men  with  whom  we  are  trying  to  work. 

DR.  GREEN:  No  one  has  come  to  the  question  at  issue,  Mr. 
Chairman,  at  all. 

MR.  DANA:  To  a  layman,  it  seems  rather  peculiar  that  it  would 
be  better  to  take  100,000  bacteria  and  kill  them  and  feed  them  to 
children,  than  to  feed  them  milk  with  only  10,000  live  bacteria  in 
it.  I  would  rather  eat  a  thousand  live  bacteria  than  make  my 
stomach  a  graveyard. 

MR.  PHILLIPS:  We  are  talking  about  questions  of  technique, 
and  we  are  forgetting  that  the  lives  of  babies  are  at  stake.  Many 
of  the  mothers  of  the  present  time  do  not  know  what  constitutes  a 
safe  milk  for  their  babies,  and  it  is  essential  for  us,  at  this  meet- 
ing, to  forget  some  of  the  little  details  and  do  all  we  can  towards 
giving  these  mothers  a  milk  label  which  is  endorsed  by  the  Health 
Department,  and  which  will  enable  every  mother  in  this  city  to 
know  that  the  milk  which  she  purchases  is  reasonably  safe  for  her 
baby.  I  do  not  think  Dr.  Green  would  say  that  a  milk  from  a 
farm  scoring  seventy-five  per  cent  and  pasteurized  in  the  manner 
that  has  been  described  here,  is  ideal.  None  of  these  conditions 
are  ideal,  but  those  first  two  classifications  are  reasonable.  The 
poor  cannot  afford  to  buy  certified  milk,  and  some  other  grade  of 
milk  must  be  established  for  the  poor,  which  is  reasonably  safe 
for  babies. 

I  sincerely  hope,  speaking  from  a  personal  standpoint,  that  these 
resolutions  can  be  adopted. 

A  VOICE:  Mr.  Chairman,  I  think  the  whole  thing  is  misunder- 
stood. There  isn't  anybody  in  this  room  who  would  attempt  to 
say  that  certified  milk  is  not  reasonably  safe. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:     Yes,  Dr.  Green  does  so. 


154      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

A  VOICE:  I  did  not  understand  him  to  say  that.  The  very  fact 
that  the  father  of  certified  milk,  as  I  believe  he  is  called,  feels 
better  by  pasteurizing  his  certified  milk,  is  very  good  evidence  why 
it  would  be  wise  to  omit  the  word  "raw."  Dr.  Coit  pasteurizes 
certified  milk.  Why  does  he  do  it?  It  is  reasonably  safe,  surely. 
Now,  why  does  anybody  object  to  that? 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  Might  I  just  answer  that  by  saying  that  Dr. 
Coit  approves  thoroughly  of  selling  certified  milk  raw? 

A  VOICE:  Of  course,  because  it  is  safer  than  any  other  milk. 
At  the  same  time,  it  is  still  better  if  it  is  pasteurized,  according  to 
Dr.  Coit. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  May  I  just  say  a  word  myself?  As  to  the 
question  of  tuberculosis:  We  have  examined  very  many  specimens 
of  certified  milk  herds,  and  have  not  been  able  to  detect  tubercle 
bacilli,  although,  of  course,  it  is  true  that  at  the  end  of  the  year, 
or  at  the  end  of  six  months,  there  are  usually  two  or  three  or  four 
per  cent  of  the  cows  that  react.  As  Mr.  Harding  says,  it  is  so 
slight  an  infection  that  it  cannot  be  found  by  testing,  although 
there  may  be  a  few  there. 

(The  question  was  called  for.) 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  First  we  vote  on  this  amendment  of  Dr. 
Green's,  that  the  words  "in  a  raw  state"  be  stricken  out. 

(The  amendment  was  lost.) 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  The  question  is  now  on  the  motion  that  the 
resolution  be  adopted  as  originally  read. 

(The  motion  was  carried  and  the  resolution  adopted.) 

DR.  WILE:     That,  Mr.  Chairman,  is  the  last  resolution. 

An  adjournment  was  taken  until  8:15  o'clock  this  evening. 


FOURTH  SESSION 

Saturday  Evening,  December  3,  1Q10,  at  8:15  o'clock. 
HENRY  L.  COIT,  M.  D.,  Presiding. 
SUBJECT,  MILK  COMMISSIONS. 

The  Chairman,  Dr.  Henry  L.  Coit,  Ex-President  of  the  Ameri- 
can Association  of  Medical  Milk  Commissions,  spoke  as  follows: 

LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN:  I  deem  it  an  honor  to  be  asked 
to  preside  at  this  meeting  held  under  the  auspices  of  the  New 
York  Milk  Committee,  but  I  did  not  promise  to  make  an  ad- 
dress although  I  am  so  listed  in  the  program. 

I  find  some  other  defects  in  your  program.  I  notice  that  I 
have  the  appellation  of  "President  of  the  American  Associa- 
tion of  Medical  Milk  Commissions."  This  is  an  error:  I 
had  the  honor  of  being  the  first  president  of  that  association, 
consisting  of  five  hundred  physicians  who  are  banded  together 
for  missionary  work  along  the  line  of  clean  milk.  The  presi- 
dent is  Prof.  Milton  J.  Rosenau  of  Harvard  University,  who 
is  present  with  us  to-night. 

I  notice  also  that  Mr.  Francisco  is  listed  as  the  President 
of  the  Association  of  Certified  Milk  Producers.  Mr.  Fran- 
cisco is  not  the  President  of  this  Association  although  he  was 
its  first  presiding  officer. 

The  statement  that  this  was  to  be  a  "Milk  Commission" 
meeting  disconcerted  me  at  first,  because  there  is  nothing  in 
the  program  on  milk  commissions.  I  had  in  my  mind  only  the 
Medical  Milk  Commission,  but,  properly  interpreted,  this  New 
York  Committee  is  a  milk  commission.  A  National  Commis- 
sion, appointed  by  a  Legislature,  such  as  that  represented  here 
by  the  gentleman  from  Canada  is  logically  a  milk  commission. 
That  appointed  by  the  Mayor  of  the  City  of  New  York  a  few 
years  ago  to  study  the  milk  question,  of  which  Dr.  Jacobi,  Dr. 
Holt  and  Dr.  Park  were  members,  was  a  milk  commission.  So 
that  any  milk  committee  with  authority,  appointed  by  some 
agency  higher  in  authority,  is  a  milk  commission  properly  so 
called. 

The  general  discussion  to-night  will  be  upon  methods  of  ob- 

155 


156  CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

taining  clean  milk  as  exemplified  in  the  efforts  of  those  who 
are  qualified  by  their  knowledge  to  solve  this  problem.  The 
Medical  Milk  Commission,  which  I  am  proud  to  represent  as 
its  author,  is  a  special  commission  with  a  special  purpose  with 
reference  to  clean  milk.  It  had  its  origin  in  this  country  and 
antedated  all  other  concerted  medical,  municipal  and  federal 
agencies  to  obtain  clean  milk. 

A  Medical  Milk  Commission  has  its  existence  by  the  initia- 
tive of  a  representative  medical  society.  Following  the  first, 
organized  in  New  Jersey  twenty  years  ago,  there  were  in  1906 
twenty- two  such  Commissions  in  the  United  States.  At  this 
time  Dr.  Clark,  an  altruistic  physician  in  Cincinnati,  present- 
ing statistics  on  milk  borne  epidemics  before  the  Academy  of 
Medicine,  urged  the  appointment  of  a  Medical  Milk  Commis- 
sion like  that  in  New  Jersey.  His  statistics  on  the  dreadful 
mortality  from  typhoid,  diphtheria  and  scarlet  fever  were  a 
justification  for  the  earnest  endeavor.  Suddenly  his  voice  grew 
thick  and  he  fell  to  the  floor  dead.  The  tragic  death  of  Dr. 
Clark  led  the  Academy  to  appoint  a  Medical  Milk  Commission. 

This  Commission  became  very  active  and  earnest  in  its  ef- 
forts. Dr.  Otto  P.  Geier  of  Cincinnati,  an  intimate  friend  of 
Dr.  Clark,  became  the  Secretary  of  the  Commission.  He  be- 
gan to  interest  himself  in  the  work  Dr.  Clark  had  inaugur- 
ated. He  corresponded  with  all  the  Medical  Milk  Commissions 
in  the  United  States.  He  wrote  to  me  suggesting  a  confer- 
ence of  these  Commissions  and  I  joined  him  in  bringing  about 
the  first  national  conference  of  milk  commissions  which  was 
held  in  Atlantic  City  five  years  ago.  There  were  about  two 
hundred  physicians,  sanitarians  and  Government  representa- 
tives present. 

This  conference  resulted  in  a  permanent  national  federation 
of  these  Commissions  and  proposed  to  extend  their  missionary 
work  to  other  cities. 

The  Medical  Milk  Commission  has  one  main  purpose  and 
that  is  to  get  clinically  clean  milk  which  may  safely  be  used  for 
hospitals,  invalids  and  infant  feeding.  It  has  been  found  that 
its  initial  efforts  will  arouse  the  interest  of  the  people,  who 
will  demand  a  cleaner  market  milk  of  the  municipal  authori- 
ties. 

Average  market  milk,  whether  in  bulk  or  cans,  is  not  clean 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  157 

enough  for  infant  feeding;  very  little  of  it  contains  less  than 
half  a  million  bacteria  per  cubic  centimeter  and  much  of  it 
many  millions  plus  the  toxines.  The  milk  made  under  the  su- 
pervision of  a  Medical  Milk  Commission,  if  the  system  is  prop- 
erly applied,  would  be  clean  enough  to  use  without  cleaning  it 
by  heat.  As  a  matter  of  fact,  it  is  not  always  clean  enough  to 
use  raw  for  all  purposes  for  which  milk  is  required. 

I  have  been  misrepresented  here  by  a  speaker  to-day  con- 
cerning my  use  of  Certified  Milk.  As  the  originator  of  the 
scheme  for  getting  Certified  Milk,  I  wish  to  say  that  it  was 
my  purpose  to  get  milk  clean  enough  to  use  raw  but  as  a  phy- 
sician, with  many  medical  problems  to  solve  with  milk,  I  have 
the  right  to  do  anything  I  choose  with  milk  after  I  get  it.  The 
use  of  milk  by  a  physician  in  a  sick-room  or  in  the  hospital  or 
in  the  nursery  is  outside  the  sphere  of  this  discussion.  As  a 
physician,  I  may  peptonize,  sterilize  or  boil  milk  if  it  seems 
best. 

As  the  so-called  father  of  Certified  Milk,  I  represent  the 
principle  of  cleanliness  enforced  in  the  dairy,  and  the  princi- 
ple of  caution  and  care  enforced  in  the  transportation  and  in 
the  delivery  of  the  milk,  so  that,  as  it  comes  to  us,  it  has  had 
nothing  done  to  it  which  will  impair  its  nutritive  value  or  its 
keeping  qualities.  It  has  been  said  that  I  use  pasteurized  milk 
to  feed  my  own  children.  There  is  one  of  my  children  here  to- 
night who  was  brought  up  on  raw  Certified  Milk.  I  have  an- 
other in  college  who  was  brought  up  on  raw  certified  milk  and 
she  is  of  a  physical  type  of  which  I  am  proud. 

I  want  to  say  that  I  do  not  believe  in  cooking  milk  if  I  can 
get  milk  clean  enough  to  use  raw.  (Applause.)  But  if  I  have 
a  patient  and  I  find  that  it  is  necessary  to  boil  milk,  even  if  it  is 
Certified,  I  have  a  right  to  do  it.  My  function,  as  a  physi- 
cian, is  to  get  that  patient  well.  If,  in  my  judgment,  the  milk 
is  better  cooked,  as  it  is  in  Amsterdam,  Berlin  and  Budapest, 
I  think  I  have  a  right  to  do  it,  but  my  ideal  is  far  above  such 
methods. 

There  are  two  or  three  general  functions  of  the  Medical 
Milk  Commission :  First  it  is  recognized  historically  and  log- 
ically and  should  become  the  leader  in  milk  crusades.  Its 
second  function  is  to  arouse  interest  both  in  the  ranks  of  the 
medical  profession  and  on  the  part  of  the  public,  concerning 


158      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

this  matter  of  pure  milk.  The  third  function  of  the  Medical 
Milk  Commission  is  to  establish  medical  control  over  milk 
designed  for  clinical  purposes. 

The  physician  knows  best  what  he  needs  in  the  sick-room; 
he  knows  what  he  needs  in  the  hospital  and  he  knows  what  he 
needs  in  the  nursery.  Therefore,  the  Medical  Milk  Commis- 
sion has  one  high  function,  and  that  is  to  establish  a  control 
over  methods  for  the  production  of  the  highest  grade  of  milk. 
I  had  the  honor  of  calling  that  grade  of  milk  by  a  distinctive 
name  which  is  now  recognized  by  our  seventy  Medical  Milk 
Commissions,  by  the  federal  government  and  by  several  state 
laws. 

Another  legitimate  function  of  the  Medical  Milk  Commission 
is  to  teach  the  proper  use  of  milk  so  that  the  rich  and  poor 
alike  know  how  to  use  clean  milk.  This  can  be  done  for  the 
poor  through  charity  or  philanthropy  and  thus  establish  a 
crusade  against  infant  mortality,  by  giving  clean  milk  and  in- 
structions to  mothers. 

This  matter  of  obtaining  clean  milk  is  of  vital  importance. 
It  touches  human  life  at  many  points.  It  has  to  do  with  mor- 
tality, morbidity  and  poverty.  It  has  to  do  with  economic 
and  social  problems.  I  have  been  interested  in  the  question  for 
twenty  years  but  I  do  not  expect  to  live  long  enough  to  see  the 
milk  problem  solved.  It  is,  to  my  mind,  almost  insoluble.  It 
is  a  problem  in  cleanliness.  Cleanliness  has  been  said  to  be 
next  to  godliness  and  they  may  be  said  to  be  closely  related  as 
problems. 

It  is  just  as  difficult  to  get  cleanliness  applied  to  the  produc- 
tion of  milk  and  have  it  brought  clean  to  our  doors,  as  it  would 
be  to  have  universal  godliness.  It  is  a  problem  that  will  never 
be  completely  solved,  because  it  requires  renewed  vigilance 
every  day  of  the  year. 

I  wish  to  express  one  thought  in  the  interest  of  the  dairyman, 
and  that  is — that  all  persons  and  agencies  connected  with  the 
milk  industry  shall  be  reasonable  in  their  demands  upon  him. 
The  dairyman's  financial  problems  should  be  respected,  his  ef- 
fort to  make  a  living  should  be  considered  and  he  should  not 
be  asked  to  sell  his  milk  at  a  price  that  will  not  give  him  a 
living  profit.  We  should  also,  in  our  requirements  for  ob- 
taining clean  milk,  be  harmonious. 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  159 

General  market  milk  is  a  far  more  important  problem  be- 
fore the  public  than  obtaining  clinically  clean  milk  by  the  doc- 
tor because  it  is  through  the  market  milk  that  epidemics  come 
about,  and  it  is  by  this  means  that  morbidity  is  established. 
We  should  have  no  conflict.  Let  us  clearly  understand  the 
function  of  the  municipal  Board  of  Health  with  respect  to  the 
milk  problem,  the  special  function  of  the  Medical  Milk  Com- 
mission and  the  function  of  a  citizens'  committee. 

The  greatest  duty  is  where  there  is  greatest  need  and  that 
is  where  the  question  touches  the  interests  of  the  masses. 

To  summarize:  The  problem  of  getting  clean  and  safe 
market  milk  is  to  be  solved  by 

A.  Requiring  the  dealer  to  pay  the  farmer  a  living  price  for 
his  milk  and  for  the  work  necessary  to  make  it  clean. 

B.  Making  it  a  municipal  function  to  educate  the  dairyman 
in  efficient  methods  of  dairy  hygiene. 

C.  A  rigid  and  continuous  enforcement,  through  score-card 
inspection,  of  necessary  rules  in  dairy  hygiene  and  the  exclu- 
sion of  causes  of  disease  in  either  workmen  or  animals. 

I  am  glad  to  learn  that  this  conference  has  already  taken 
the  step  which  will  establish  a  permanent  committee  to  study 
these  problems  and  accomplish  results,  and  I  congratulate  you 
upon  the  success  of  the  meetings  that  have  preceded  this  one 
to-night. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  I  have  great  pleasure  in  introducing  to  you 
George  M.  Whitaker,  Acting  Chief  of  the  Dairy  Division  of  the 
United  States  Department  of  Agriculture,  who  will  speak  to  you 
on  "Milk  Standards  and  How  to  Enforce  Them." 

MR.  WHITAKER  spoke  as  follows: 

MILK  STANDARDS  AND  HOW  TO  ENFORCE  THEM 

MR.  CHAIRMAN  AND  LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN:  The  Chair- 
man set  the  example  in  criticising  the  printed  program,  arid 
I  will  follow  his  example  by  saying  that  I  am  not  Acting  Chief 
of  the  Dairy  Division,  but  only  Chief  of  a  sub-division  which 
has  to  do  with  market  milk — the  market  milk  section,  so-called. 

When  Dr.  Wile  asked  Secretary  Wilson  to  be  here  to-day 
and  the  Secretary  deputized  me  to  represent  him,  in  a  way, 
the  subject  assigned  to  me  to  speak  upon  was  "Milk  Standards 
and  How  to  Enforce  Them."  In  listening  to  the  excellent  pro- 


160  CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

gram  this  afternoon,  I  find  that  some  of  the  things  that  I  had 
prepared  to  say  have  already  been  said;  consequently,  I  shall 
have  to  crave  your  indulgence  if  I  seem  guilty  of  repeating 
what  has  already  been  said. 

In  times  past,  we  have  been  accustomed  to  regard  quality 
in  milk  as  merely  a  matter  of  food  content.  The  science  of 
bacteriology  has  broadened  the  meaning  of  the  words  quality 
and  good  as  applied  to  milk  and  practically  given  them  a  new 
definition  which  many  people  have  not  yet  fully  realized. 
Quality,  as  applied  to  milk,  relates  to  four  conditions,  any  one 
of  which  being  poor  will  render  the  milk  of  poor  quality. 

First.  Good  milk  must  have  a  satisfactory  amount  of  food 
material. 

Second.  Good  milk  must  have  no  foreign  substance,  either 
preservative  or  visible  dirt. 

Third.  Good  milk  must  have  very  few  bacteria  and  none  of 
the  pathogenic  kind. 

Fourth.  Good  milk  must  be  produced  by  healthy  animals, 
under  clean  and  sanitary  conditions. 

Hence,  there  must  be  four  standards  for  milk : 

1.   A  reasonable  amount  of  food  material,  that  is,  milk  solids. 

&.  An  absence  of  foreign  substances :  Preservatives,  or  visi- 
ble dirt. 

3.  A  bacteriological  standard  and,  possibly,  as  an  incident 
to  that  and  by  way  of  helping  enforce  it,  a  temperature  stand- 
ard. 

4.  A  score  card  standard. 

First.  The  standard  for  food  material,  that  is,  the  minimum 
amount  of  milk  solids  which  merchantable  milk  may  contain, 
has  two  purposes.  Such  a  standard  is  of  assistance  in  enforc- 
ing laws  against  adulteration  with  water,  because  added  water 
within  5  or  10  per  cent  cannot  be  detected  by  the  chemist  with 
a  sufficient  degree  of  certainty  to  warrant  his  staking  his  rep- 
utation in  swearing  on  the  witness  stand  that  a  given  sample 
of  milk  is  watered.  Furthermore,  a  standard  as  regards  food 
material  has  a  second  purpose,  namely,  an  attempt  to  protect 
the  consuming  public  from  milk  unduly  impoverished,  and  also 
to  protect  a  large  portion  of  the  producing  public  against  com- 
petition with  milk  having  a  low  amount  of  food  matter.  The 
objection  to  this  standard  is  the  claim  that  law  goes  beyond 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  161 

its  proper  function  when  it  attempts  to  punish  a  man  for  the 
sale  of  a  "natural  product,"  "just  as  nature  produced  it." 
The  modern  cow  is  not  a  natural  product  but  the  result  of  an 
evolution.  A  milk  producer  can,,  within  certain  limitations, 
have  any  kind  of  milk  he  desires,  so  far  as  amount  of  food 
material  in  it  is  concerned.  If  he  starts  out  with  an  inten- 
tion to  produce  14*  per  cent  milk  he  can  select  a  herd  which 
will  produce  14  per  cent  milk.  The  same  is  true  as  regards 
IS  per  cent  and  other  milks.  If  then  a  producer  deliberately 
selects  a  herd  which  will  produce  milk  below  in  food  material 
what  the  law  says  is  an  allowable  minimum,  I  see  no  hard- 
ship in  his  being  prosecuted  therefor.  I  believe  that  the  stand- 
ard should  be  high  enough  to  keep  from  the  market  milk  low- 
est in  food  value.  A  very  low  standard  is  to  that  extent  no 
standard. 

Second.  As  to  foreign  substances,  nothing  need  be  said  as 
no  one  defends  milk  doped  with  embalming  substances,  or  pol- 
luted with  cow  manure. 

Third.  As  to  the  bacteriological  standard,  the  objection  is 
sometimes  made  that  it  does  not  discriminate  between  desirable 
and  undesirable  bacteria;  but  I  hazard  the  assertion  that  all 
forms  of  bacteria  are  undesirable  in  sweet  market  milk;  fur- 
thermore, many  of  the  so-called  good  and  bad  kinds  of  bac- 
teria are  intimately  associated,  and  if  milk  contains  large  num- 
bers, the  presumption  is  that  many  of  them  are  of  the  bad 
kind.  The  dirtier  the  milk  the  more  bacteria.  An  excessive 
number  of  bacteria  means  bad  conditions  in  producing  or 
handling,  therefore  a  bacteriological  standard  is  justifiable. 
As  bacteria  multiply  rapidly  in  warm  milk  a  temperature 
standard  is  a  valuable  assistant  in  helping  to  keep  milk  within 
the  proper  limits  bacteriologically. 

Fourth.  My  suggestion  for  both  a  bacteriological  stand- 
ard and  a  score  card  standard  may  be  criticised  on  the  ground 
that  at  the  last  analysis  both  mean  the  same  thing.  This 
may  perhaps  be  correct  where  conditions  warrant  frequent 
bacteriological  tests  of  milk.  Where  milk  from  a  given  herd 
can  be  examined  regularly  every  week  or  two,  if  it  prove  uni- 
form in  number  of  bacteria,  the  probabiltiy  is  that  the  bac- 
teria counts  and  the  score  card  results  will  confirm  each  other. 
But  usually  it  is  not  feasible  to  make  such  frequent  investi- 


162      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

gations  of  milk.  Furthermore,  an  investigation  of  a  dairy 
with  the  score  card  is  something  that  the  producer  can  under- 
stand and  profit  by.  Again,  a  dairy  with  a  low  score  is  one 
that  has  elements  of  bacteriological  danger,  but  the  bad  pos- 
sibilities may  not  materialize,  so  frequently  the  score  card  in- 
spection is  not  only  a  help  to  a  dairyman,  but  a  prevention 
of  bacteriological  contamination. 

The  arguments  for  state  law  and  state  enforcement  are: 
1.  State  law  would  give  uniformity:  Its  provisions  would 
apply  equally  to  all  people  in  the  state.  If  it  is  wise  for  gov- 
ernors, state  commissions,  and  national  conventions  to  consider 
uniformity  of  legislation  as  between  state  and  state,  uniformity 
of  legislation  within  the  state  certainly  has  merit. 

£.  State  law  would  be  more  permanent  than  city  law :  It  is 
usually  easier  to  change  a  city  than  a  state  law.  A  compara- 
tively small  and  trivial  wave  of  personal  unpopularity  or  bad 
feeling,  or  the  exaggerated  "drive"  of  a  yellow  journal,  may 
upset  a  good  city  law,  but  be  powerless  against  a  state  law. 

3.  Selfish  interests  would  be  apt  to  have  less   relative  in- 
fluence in  the  state  than  in  the  city.     The  dairy  conditions 
in  Cincinnati,  Ohio,  were  at  one  time  deplorable,  due  to  the 
feeding  of  distillery  slop,  or  swill.     The  physicians  recogniz- 
ing the  undesirability  of  such   feed,   fought  hard  to  get  an 
ordinance  prohibiting  its  use,  but  the  distillery  influence  in 
local  politics  was  stronger  than  the  medical  or  health  influence. 
Then  an  effort  was  made  to  get  a  state  law  prohibiting  the 
feeding   of   distillery   swills    to    dairy   cows.     This    succeeded 
because  the  distillers  could  not  control  as  much  relative  power 
at  the  state  house  as  at  the  city  hall. 

4.  Where  the  milk  supply  of  a  large  city  comes  from  many 
towns  or  where  several  cities  receive  milk  from  the  same  lo- 
cality, the  state  law  has  certain  manifest  advantages. 

5.  State  law,  as   a   rule,  would  command  better  talent  in 
its  construction  than  local  law. 

6.  A   state    inspector   would   give   his    undivided   attention 
to  enforcing  dairy  laws,  while  in  many  of  the  smaller  cities 
the  inspector  has  several  kinds  of  work  to  do. 

7.  A  state-wide  law  would  be  tested  in  more  courts,  have 
to   stand   more  hammering  by   more   lawyers,   and   the  weak 
points  would  be  sooner  detected  and  remedied. 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  163 

8.  Where   localities   were    apathetic   in   the   matter   of   in- 
spection, state  law  would  override  such  neglect. 

9.  State  law  in  many  cases  would  result  in  savings  through 
centralized  planning  and  execution  of  the  work. 

10.  A   state   law    would   save    some   communities    from   the 
vagaries  of  zealous  but  poorly  informed  local  officers. 

11.  The  tenure  of  office  of  a  state  officer  might  be  more  se- 
cure than  that  of  a  city  officer,  and  a  state  officer  might  be 
more  independent  and  unhampered  than  a  city  officer  under 
local  political  influence. 

12.  The  title  of  state  officer  frequently  carries  more  weight, 
influence,  and  dignity  than  that  of  city  officer. 

13.  The   state   officer   can  have  more   efficient  laboratories 
at  his  disposal  than  is  possible  in  small  cities. 

The  advantages  of  municipal  control  are: 

1.  The  enforcement  of  law  comes  nearer  to  the  people,  and 
sentiment  favors  a  reasonable  amount  of  home  rule. 

2.  Home  rule  being  nearer  to  the  people  may  be  a  more 
accurate  reflection  of  local  sentiment  and  may  be  better  en- 
forced. 

3.  Sometimes  a  reform  can  begin  in  a  small  way  through 
local  legislation  where  a  state  law  would  be  impossible.     For 
instance,  something  like   100  cities  in  the  country  now  have 
a  law  requiring  that  all  milk  brought  into  their  several  munic- 
ipalities shall  come  from  tuberculin  tested  herds. 

Another  set  of  arguments  for  or  against  food  laws  is  based 
upon  expediency.  Where  law  has  been  of  city  origin  and 
efficiently  enforced  by  the  local  health  department  for  a  long 
time,  it  might  be  unwise  for  the  state  to  come  in  and  supplant 
the  work  of  those  excellent  local  officers,  possibly  by  inferior 
service.  The  question  of  adjustment  of  expense  is  an  im- 
portant one  in  considering  the  expediency  side  of  the  case.  In 
most  places  it  would  mean  a  large  addition  to  the  state  ex- 
penses, a  financial  relief  to  the  cities  where  good  work  is  al- 
ready being  done,  increased  efficiency  without  enlarged  outlay 
where  little  or  nothing  is  being  done. 

It  is  a  very  interesting  fact,  however,  that  in  many  cases 
with  which  I  am  familiar  (regardless  of  all  theories  or  argu- 
ments) where  there  has  been  an  agitation  to  change  from  city 
to  state  control,  the  movement  has  grown  out  of  a  desire  to 


164  CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

pull  down  and  render  less  efficient  the  work  of  some  capable 
city  health  officer. 

In  considering  the  relative  desirability  of  different  systems, 
remember  that  after  all  the  greatest  efficiency  depends  upon 
the  man  rather  than  upon  the  actual  statute,  or  its  source. 
An  honest  officer,  full  of  intelligent  enthusiasm  and  desiring 
to  be  of  service  to  his  community,  will  do  commendable  work 
and  secure  good  results  with  mighty  poor  laws.  As  I  recall 
the  various  places  where  I  am  somewhat  familiar  with  exist- 
ing conditions,  there  is  always  associated  with  good  work  and 
praise-worthy  results,  the  mental  picture  of  an  active,  intelli- 
gent individual,  rather  than  the  recollection  of  any  commend- 
able law. 

In  many  cases,  great  improvement  would  be  made  by  state 
law  enforced  by  state  officers.  On  the  other  hand,  some  of 
the  most  efficient  officers  that  I  know  of  are  city  officers  en- 
forcing city  laws — faithful,  intelligent,  energetic  men  doing 
more  in  and  for  their  various  communities  than  we  could 
reasonably  expect  a  state  system  to  do.  It  would  seem  wrong 
to  crowd  these  men  out  of  their  positions  and  possibly  turn 
over  the  work  to  those  who  would  be  less  efficient.  Remember, 
also,  that  dairy  inspection  is  almost  entirely  a  health  propo- 
sition. The  work  accomplished  must  finally  be  acceptable  to 
the  health  sentiment  and  authorities. 

It  occurs  to  me  to  suggest,  with  considerable  hesitancy  and 
conservatism,  whether  or  not  the  final  solution  of  the  problem 
will  be  along  the  line  of  co-operation  of  state  and  municipal- 
ity, with  the  state  at  the  last  analysis  responsible  for  results  and 
having  supervisory  powers  over  the  cities,  with  authority  to 
send  inspectors  into  all  places,  especially  those  that  are  not 
up  to  the  state  standard,  but  allowing  any  municipality  to 
take  advanced  steps  if  it  so  desires. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  While  you  were  all  very  indulgent  of  myself 
and  Mr.  Whitaker  for  our  transgression,  I  will  ask  the  remaining 
gentlemen  on  the  program  to  keep,  if  possible,  within  the  pre- 
scribed limit  of  twenty  minutes,  in  order  that  we  may  hear  Dr. 
Park,  who,  although  he  is  the  last,  is  not  the  least  on  the  program. 

It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  introduce  to  you  Mr.  J.  B.  Cole- 
man,  Deputy  Attorney  General  of  New  York  State. 

MR.  COLEMAN  spoke  as  follows: 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  165 

STATE  REGULATION  OF  MILK  PRICES 

MR.  CHAIRMAN  AND  MEMBERS  OF  THE  NEW  YORK  MILK  COM- 
MITTEE AND  LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN  :  I  want  to  thank  the  New 
York  Milk  Committee  for  this  opportunity  of  addressing  you 
this  evening,  and  I  esteem  it  an  honor  to  be  called  upon  to 
address  an  assemblage  of  earnest,  zealous  men  and  women,  such 
as  you  appear  to  be,  for  I  do  not  think  that  any  other  kind 
would  come,  on  a  Saturday  evening,  to  a  hall  down  in  the 
lower  part  of  the  city  here,  unless  it  were  earnest  and  zealous 
and  impressed  with  the  necessity  of  solving  the  problems  that 
have  been  before  you  during  this  milk  conference.  At  the  very 
outset  of  this  discussion,  I  want  to  assure  you  that  I  am  not  a 
partisan  in  any  sense  of  the  word,  or  prejudiced  or  biased 
against  the  methods  of  any  milk  dealer,  whether  it  is  a  cor- 
poration or  an  individual. 

When  the  Attorney  General  of  the  State  of  New  York  re- 
quested me  to  accept  a  position  as  special  deputy  for  the  pur- 
pose of  going  into  the  investigation  of  the  milk  traffic  in  New 
York  City,  I  went  into  that  investigation  with  an  entirely  free 
and  open  mind,  and,  during  the  whole  course  of  that  investi- 
gation, the  only  brief  that  I  held  was  the  brief  of  the  people 
of  the  State  of  New  York,  and  that  means  all  the  people  of  the 
State  of  New  York,  and  it  is  the  welfare  of  the  people  of  the 
State  of  New  York  that  I  represent  before  you  this  evening. 

Now  that  investigation  developed  one  fact  which  stood  out 
plainly  and  clearly,  and  that  was  that  there  existed  a  com- 
bination of  milk  dealers  in  New  York  City  and  vicinity,  that 
fixed  the  prices  that  they  would  pay  to  the  producers  for  milk, 
and  also  fixed  the  prices  that  they  would  charge  the  consumers 
for  milk.  With  the  aid  of  this  combination,  they  were  able  to 
underpay  the  producers  and  to  overcharge  the  consumers. 

Now,  on  account  of  the  limited  time  that  I  am  given  in 
which  to  discuss  my  subject,  it  will  be  impossible  for  me  to 
call  attention  to  any  great  portion  of  the  evidence  that  went 
into  that  investigation,  but  I  will  say  that  producer  after  pro- 
ducer went  on  the  stand  in  that  investigation  and  stated  that 
he  was  selling  his  milk  at  the  cost  of  production,  or  a  little  less 
than  the  cost  of  production.  Now,  these  men  were  not  the  or- 
dinary farmers.  They  were  not  guessing.  They  brought  their 


166      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

books  into  court  and  they  took  their  figures  from  their  books. 
They  were  men  who  were  farming  and  producing  milk  on  a 
scientific  basis.  They  were  men  who  told  us  every  item  that 
went  into  the  cost  of  production,  the  amount  it  cost  them 
during  the  preceding  year,  and  the  amount  that  they  realized. 
Their  testimony  was  uniform  that  the  producer  to-day  is 
producing  milk  and  selling  it  at  about  the  cost  of  production. 
I  do  not  want  to  overstep  my  time  if  it  is  possible  not  to. 
Let  us  see  for  a  moment  what  this  combine  does  to  the  pro- 
ducer. Many  years  ago,  in  this  State  there  was  a  milk  ex- 
change. I  think  it  was  called  the  Milk  Exchange,  Ltd.  It 
transgressed  the  laws  of  this  State  in  reference  to  forming 
combinations  in  restraint  of  trade,  because  it  fixed  the  price 
that  its  members  would  pay  to  the  producers.  That  milk 
exchange  and  its  acts  were  declared  illegal  by  the  Court  of 
Appeals  of  this  State,  and  they  were  driven  out  of  the  State. 
They  betook  themselves  to  New  Jersey,  and  there  they  re- 
organized, and  when  the  clamor  had  died  out,  which  had  arisen 
as  a  result  of  their  case  in  this  State,  they  sneaked  back  into 
New  York  City  and  kept  on  doing  the  same  acts  that  had 
been  declared  illegal  by  the  Court  of  Appeals.  They  kept  on 
performing  those  acts  right  up  to  the  time  of  the  investiga- 
tion, and  at  the  beginning  of  the  investigation  they  attempted 
to  brazen  the  matter  through,  saying  that  it  was  an  outrage 
that  substantial  business  men,  as  they  were,  should  be  investi- 
gated. But  after  a  short  time,  they  saw  the  light,  and  the 
investigation  became  a  little  warmer,  and  their  courage  wilted, 
and  they  sneaked  back  to  New  Jersey,  and  there,  I  am  in- 
formed, they  are  performing  the  same  acts  that  the  Court 
of  Appeals  in  this  State  said  were  illegal.  Those  acts  con- 
sist in  meeting  every  month  and  fixing  the  price  that  the 
dealers  will  pay  to  the  producers  for  milk.  So  much  for  this 
combine,  as  to  the  producers'  end  of  it.  Let  us  look  for  a 
moment  at  the  consumers'  end.  In  November,  1909, — on  the 
first  day  of  November,  I  believe  it  was, — practically  every  milk 
dealer  in  New  York  City  raised  the  price  of  bottled  milk  from 
eight  to  nine  cents.  Of  course,  they  had  no  understanding 
that  they  were  all  to  raise  it.  They  simply  all  came  to  the 
same  conclusion  at  the  same  time,  that  they  were  not  real- 
izing a  sufficient  profit  from  the  sale  of  their  milk.  It  was 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  167 

simply  a  curious  coincidence  that  every  milk  dealer,  practically, 
in  the  City,  should  raise  the  price  of  milk  an  exact  amount 
on  the  same  day. 

The  investigation  was  inaugurated  in  the  latter  part  of 
the  same  month.  The  investigation  became  more  thorough  as 
time  went  on,  and  in  February  of  1910,  every  milk  dealer  in 
New  York  City  dropped  back  to  the  eight  cent  price,  with  one 
exception.  In  February,  a  winter  month,  a  month  during 
which  the  cows  cannot  feed  on  the  grass  that  is  growing  in 
the  fields,  they  made  this  reduction  in  the  price.  The  reason 
that  they  gave  for  lowering  the  price  of  milk  at  that  time 
was  that  there  was  a  superabundance  of  milk  in  the  market. 
They  continued  at  that  price  until  the  investigation  closed  up. 
The  legislature  continued  unusually  long  in  session  last  year, 
and  they  had  an  extra  session  towards  the  latter  part  of  June. 
July  came  along  and  legislature  adjourned.  There  was  no 
fear  of  hostile  legislation  then,  at  least  for  another  year,  and 
the  price  of  milk,  in  the  middle  of  July,  a  summer  month,  when 
you  and  I  should  think  that  milk  should  be  more  abundant 
than  in  February,  and  be  cheaper,  was  raised  again  to  nine 
cents,  and  that  is  where  it  is  now  in  New  York  City. 

Now,  it  may  be  that  in  all  of  those  cases  there  was  no 
agreement  among  the  dealers,  but  I  doubt  it.  The  reason 
given  for  the  raise  in  the  price  of  milk  on  these  various  oc- 
casions was  that  the  milk  dealer  was  not  realizing  sufficient 
profit  from  the  milk  business  to  enable  him  to  sell  it  at  eight 
cents  a  quart.  We  had  Marvin  Scudder,  an  expert  account- 
ant, and  a  man  of  great  reputation  in  that  line,  examine 
the  books  of  the  milk  dealers,  principally  the  larger  ones.  I 
will  take  the  two  largest  milk  dealers  whose  books  he  examined, 
and  give  you  the  figures  that  he  gave  on  the  stand  and  swore 
to.  Those  figures  were  not  contradicted  by  the  dealers  whose 
books  he  had  examined. 

Borden's  Condensed  Milk  Company  was  organized  about 
ten  years  ago.  Twenty-five  million  dollars  was  the  capital 
stock,  during  the  year  of  1909,  of  which  $15,428,000  was  is- 
sued for  trade  marks,  patents  and  good  will.  This,  as  Mr. 
Scudder  testified  on  the  stand,  was  merely  a  balancing  entry. 
You  and  I  would  call  it  water. 

During  the  year  ending  September  30th,  1909,  before  the 


168      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

nine  cent  milk  went  into  effect  at  all,  they  made  profits  of 
$2,617,029.40.  These  were  net  profits.  Everything  had 
been  charged  off,  even  a  large  amount  for  depreciation.  That 
means  that  for  that  year,  on  the  capital  invested  in  that  com- 
pany, they  paid  28  per  cent  dividends.  That  was  done  on  eight 
cent  milk. 

During  their  ten  years  of  existence,  they  have  paid  on  their 
preferred  stock,  every  year,  six  per  cent,  and  nearly  every  year, 
on  their  common  stock,  ten  per  cent,  and  they  rolled  up  a 
surplus  of  $8,824-,230.00,  on  eight  cent  milk. 

Now,  I  will  take  up  Sheffield.  That  is  probably  more  il- 
luminating, because  the  figures  are  smaller,  and  we  can  under- 
stand them,  perhaps,  better. 

The  Sheffields  were  organized  about  eight  years  ago.  The 
capital  stock  was  five  hundred  thousand  dollars.  Two  hun- 
dred thousand  dollars  was  issued  for  tangible  assets.  The 
balance  was  issued  for  good  will — merely  a  balancing  entry, 
as  Mr.  Scudder  testified  again,  or  "water,"  as  you  and  I  would 
call  it.  For  the  year  ending  February  28th,  1909,  after  de- 
ducting all  charges  and  expenses  of  every  kind  and  nature, 
Sheffield  made  profits  of  $221,000.00,  and  further  showed  net 
earnings  for  the  eight  months  ending  October  31st,  1909,  after 
deducting  all  charges  and  expenses  of  every  kind,  of  $257,- 
000.00. 

Remember  that  these  figures  were  given  for  the  period  up 
to  October  31st,  1909,  the  day  before  the  price  was  raised 
to  nine  cents.  Those  net  earnings  of  $257,000.00  were  for 
eight  months.  That  is  one  hundred  and  twenty  per  cent  in 
eight  months  on  the  original  capital  invested,  of  two  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  and  yet  they  could  not  make  sufficient  profit 
on  eight  cent  milk,  and  it  was  necessary  to  raise  the  price. 

This  company  has  been  in  existence  about  eight  years.  Dur- 
ing the  entire  time  that  it  has  been  in  existence,  it  has  nearly 
every  year  paid,  on  its  entire  stock,  including  water,  twelve 
per  cent  dividends.  In  the  year  19091,  up  to  the  time  of  the 
investigation,  they  paid  twenty-two  per  cent,  and  during 
that  eight  years,  on  the  original  investment  of  two  hundred 
thousand  dollars,  they  have  rolled  up  a  surplus  of  $962,000.00 
on  eight  cent  milk.  The  poor  milkman  is  indeed  to  be  pitied ! 

Now,  for  the  situation,  what  is  the  remedy?     It  is  a  prac- 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  169 

tical  impossibility  for  any  law  against  companies  to  reach  the 
situation  that  we  find  here  in  the  milk  trade  to-day.  There 
is  no  combination  in  the  form  of  any  written  agreement.  The 
milk  dealers  are  too  shrewd  for  that.  It  is  what  might  be 
termed  a  gentlemen's  agreement.  A  number  of  milk  dealers  sit 
down  at  a  table  together  at  lunch  or  dinner,  and  they  dis- 
cuss the  price  of  milk,  and  one  says  "I  think  milk  ought  to 
be  nine  cents  a  quart,"  and  another  one  says,  "I  think  so, 
too ;  I  think  it  is  worth  nine  cents" ;  and  they  all  think  the 
same  way.  They  do  not  enter  into  any  form  of  agreement, 
even  a  formal  verbal  agreement.  That  is  not  necessary,  and  it 
would  be  of  no  advantage  to  them.  They  know  they  couldn't 
enforce  such  an  agreement  in  Court,  so  what  is  the  use  of  doing 
a  useless  thing?  They  simply  come  to  this  consensus  of  opin- 
ion as  to  the  value  of  milk,  and  they  all  go  out  and  raise  or 
lower  the  price  of  milk  next  day,  according  to  that  consensus 
of  opinion.  But  there  has  been  no  agreement,  and  that  enables 
each  of  them  to  go  on  the  stand  and  say  that  he  never  agreed 
to  raise  or  lower  the  price  of  milk. 

With  such  a  situation,  ladies  and  gentlemen,  it  is  impos- 
sible to  pass  any  law  against  combinations  that  has  any  teeth 
to  it,  or  that  can  touch  those  men  or  get  at  that  agreement. 
There  is  no  prosecuting  officer  in  the  country  that  can  get 
at  them. 

In  the  first  place,  he  has  to  find  out  where  that  meeting  was 
held,  and  when  he  finds  out  where  it  was  held,  he  has  to  find 
out  what  was  said  at  it,  and  the  only  way  he  can  find  out 
either  of  those  two  things,  is,  in  case  someone  who  was  at 
the  meeting  turns  traitor.  And  the  milkmen  seem  to  be  a 
pretty  loyal  body  of  men ! 

Now,  my  remedy  would  be  the  appointment  of  a  Milk  Com- 
mission by  the  Governor,  this  Commission  to  be  industrial, 
rather  than  political.  To  that  end  I  would  recommend  that 
the  State  Grange  and  the  Chambers  of  Commerce  of  the  dif- 
ferent cities  pick  out  candidates  and  send  in  their  names  to  the 
governor,  so  that  he  would  have  them  to  select  this  com- 
mission from. 

It  should  be  the  duty  of  this  Commission  to  inquire  into 
and  to  find  out  the  value  of  milk  in  the  various  localities  of 
this  State.  Every  Milk  Dealer  in  the  State  should  be  re- 


170      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

quired  to  get  a  license,  which  should  be  issued  by  this  Commis- 
sion which  should  have  the  absolute  right  to  fix  the  maximum 
price  at  which  milk  should  be  sold  to  the  consumers  in  any  lo- 
cality and  the  minimum  price  at  which  it  should  be  bought  from 
any  producer  in  any  locality,  and  if  any  dealer  violated  these 
price  lists  and  did  not  comply  with  the  rules  of  the  Commis- 
sion, his  license  would  be  taken  from  him,  and,  of  necessity, 
he  could  not  engage  in  the  business  of  milk  dealing. 

Now,  the  first  objection,  and  probably  the  objection  which 
would  suggest  itself  to  any  legal  mind,  is,  is  such  a  law  con- 
stitutional? I  can't  go  into  any  extended  discussion  of  the 
constitutionality  of  such  a  law  before  you  this  evening,  but  I 
will  say  that  it  appears  to  me  that  the  United  States  Supreme 
Court  has  already  held  that  such  a  law  would  be  constitutional. 
Of  course,  it  is  elementary  that  any  law  which  makes  a  price 
for  any  corporation  that  has  a  public  franchise,  whether  it  be 
a  railroad  corporation  or  a  gas  corporation,  is  constitutional. 
If  it  be  a  railroad  corporation,  a  legislature  can  regulate  the 
price  of  the  fares,  and  if  it  be  a  gas  corporation,  the  cost  of 
the  gas.  Such  a  law  is  constitutional,  and  the  United  States 
Supreme  Court,  in  the  celebrated  Eighty  Cent  Gas  case  held 
that  the  law  was  constitutional  and  that  the  Legislature  had 
the  right  to  fix  a  price  at  which  gas  should  be  sold.  The  the- 
ory in  those  cases  was  that  the  corporation  was  exercising  a 
public  franchise,  and  that,  for  that  reason,  the  State  had  a 
right  to  say  what  should  be  a  proper  charge,  and  to  say  that 
that  corporation  should  be  satisfied  with  a  reasonable  profit. 

Now,  in  the  case  of  Mund  vs.  Illinois,  the  U.  S.  Supreme 
Court  has  said  that  even  in  the  case  where  a  corporation  did 
not  have  a  public  franchise,  the  same  thing  may  obtain.  The 
State  of  Illinois  had  passed  a  law  which  said  that  no  ware- 
house man  should  charge  more  than  so  much  for  storing  grain. 
There  was  no  question  of  a  public  franchise  there,  and  it  was 
contended  that  the  State  of  Illinois  could  not  pass  such  a  law 
as  would  limit  the  warehouse  man  in  the  price  that  he  would 
charge  for  storing  grain.  The  United  States  Supreme  Court 
said  that  this  was  a  business  that  related  to  the  public  welfare 
and  that  although  no  special  franchise  was. granted,  neverthe- 
less the  State  shall  say  under  what  terms  that  business  shall 
be  carried  on  in  that  state.  When  Legislatures  create  ficti- 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  171 

tious  personages — these  corporations — these  entities  that  have 
no  life  except  what  we  give  them  through  our  Legislature, — 
the  Legislature  that  creates  them  can  regulate  their  whole  life 
and  actions  after  it  has  created  them.  If  that  is  not  the  case, 
it  is  undoubtedly  true  that  the  creature  is  greater  than  the 
creator. 

What  was  the  situation  that  developed  last  year  with  ref- 
erence to  the  meat  traffic?  It  appeared  that  the  only  remedy 
that  the  people  had  against  the  exactions  of  the  Meat  Trust 
was  to  deny  themselves  the  meat  that  they  needed  in  their 
daily  life.  Isn't  it  a  pitiable  commentary  on  the  state  of  our 
law  that  the  only  remedy  that  we  have  against  these  corpora- 
tions which  we  have  created,  is  to  stop  using  the  articles  which 
they  purvey,  the  necessities  of  life?  In  the  case  of  milk,  it  is 
impossible  for  us  to  stop.  Children  must  have  milk  or  they  will 
die.  There  are  only  two  parties  in  the  final  analysis  to  this 
question.  One  is  your  trust,  your  rapacious  corporation,  try- 
ing to  squeeze  out  of  the  public  every  cent  that  they  can  get 
and  the  other  is  the  child  of  the  tenement,  with  its  poor,  weak, 
tired  little  face,  becoming  weaker  and  more  tired  every  day.  I 
have  seen  them  in  the  summer  time  in  the  tenements.  I  have 
seen  my  own  child  when  he  was  sick  in  the  summer,  and  I  would 
have  gone  crazy  if  I  could  not  have  given  my  child  the  milk 
that  I  knew  he  needed. 

Now,  when  you  come  here  and  make  it  a  purpose  of  your 
meeting  to  compel  all  milk  to  be  bottled  in  the  city  and  pas- 
teurized, and  put  up  the  price  to  nine  or  ten  cents  a  quart,  you 
have  these  children  in  the  tenements  suffering  for  milk.  That 
is  a  situation  that  must  be  remedied  by  the  Legislature,  and  I 
say,  before  you  gentlemen  and  ladies  this  evening,  that  if  the 
representatives  of  the  people  do  not  remedy  the  situation  that 
exists  with  reference  to  the  selling  and  purveying  of  the  neces- 
sities of  life,  so  as  to  stop  these  middlemen  corporations  from 
squeezing  the  people,  the  people  will  take  the  thing  into  their 
own  hands,  and  they  will  act  in  no  uncertain  way. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  It  gives  me  pleasure  to  introduce  to  you  Dr. 
Charles  E.  North,  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on  Sanitation,  Bac- 
teriology and  Public  Health  of  the  New  York  Milk  Committee. 
Dr.  North  will  speak  to  you  on  "The  Present  System  of  Milk  Con- 
trol." 


172      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

DR.  NORTH  spoke  as  follows: 

THE  PRESENT  SYSTEM  OF  MILK  CONTROL 

I  have  tried  to  write  a  very  short  paper  on  a  very  big  sub- 
ject. If  my  statements  seem  a  little  bald,  the  fact  that  I  have 
tried  to  cut  out  all  trimmings  is  my  excuse. 

Connecticut  sends  32,600  quarts  of  milk  daily  to  New  York 
City,  from  550  dairy  farms.  This  is  a  little  over  \\%  of  the 
city's  supply.  There  is  a  State  Dairy  Commissioner  in  Con- 
necticut, but  he  has  no  appropriation  or  inspection  force  at 
his  disposal  for  dairy  inspection  work.  The  State  Board  of 
Health  of  Connecticut  maintains  a  laboratory  and  tests  sam- 
ples of  milk  sent  to  them  by  local  officers  of  health.  Two 
years  ago  four  towns  in  the  State  made  some  attempt  to  con- 
trol their  milk  supplies.  At  present  there  are  twenty  towns 
in  the  state  that  have  milk  inspectors.  There  is  no  regular 
official  inspection  of  dairies  by  the  officers  of  the  State  Board 
of  Health. 

Massachusetts  contributes  6%  of  this  city's  supply,  amount- 
ing to  11,700  quarts  of  milk  daily,  from  250  dairy  farms. 
The  State  Department  of  Agriculture  has  five  dairy  inspectors 
and  an  appropriation  of  Eight  Thousand  Dollars.  The  State 
Board  of  Health  maintains  one  milk  inspector.  The  matter  of 
milk  inspection  is  left  chiefly  in  the  hands  of  local  officers  of 
the  various  cities  and  towns.  This  question  of  State  versus 
City  inspection  is  being  considered  by  a  special  commission 
and  there  is  hope  that  an  adequate  system  will  be  brought  into 
existence  in  the  near  future. 

Vermont  ships  to  New  York  City  25,600  quarts  of  milk 
every  day,  which  is  l:j%  of  the  entire  supply.  The  State 
Board  of  Health  maintains  a  laboratory  and  conducts  exam- 
inations of  samples  submitted  by  local  boards  of  health  and 
publishes  the  results  with  the  names  of  the  milk  dealers  in  its 
annual  report.  This  publicity  alone  has  enabled  the  State. 
Board  of  Health  to  exert  a  marked  influence  over  milk  pro- 
ducers in  the  state.  Neither  the  State  Board  or  the  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture  maintains  a  force  of  milk  inspectors  and 
has  no  available  appropriation  for  this  purpose. 

New  York  State  furnishes  84%  of  this  city's  milk  supply, 
amounting  to  1,724,000  quarts  of  milk  daily,  which  is  pro- 
duced on  37,000  dairy  farms.  There  are  67,457  dairy  farms 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  173 

in  the  State.  No  control  is  exercised  over  milk  production  by 
the  State  Department  of  Health.  The  State  Department  of 
Agriculture,  which  is  a  very  active  one,  does  its  best  with  its 
appropriation  of  somewhat  over  twenty-three  thousand  dollars 
for  dairy  purposes,  and  a  staff  of  milk  inspectors  which  varies 
from  eight  to  twelve. 

New  Jersey  sends  1  £6,000  quarts  of  milk  daily  to  the  city  or 
6%  of  the  entire  supply.  This  comes  from  £,700  dairy  farms. 
There  are  about  10,000  dairy  farms  in  the  State  of  New  Jersey. 
The  appropriation  of  the  Department  of  Health  for  dairy  pur- 
poses is  $84*50.  This  Department  maintains  three  regular 
milk  inspectors  who  are  sent  out  chiefly  on  complaints  received 
from  local  health  officers.  The  State  Department  of  Ag- 
riculture does  not  take  any  part  in  the  control  of  milk  pro- 
duction. 

The  State  of  Pennsylvania  ships  130,500  quarts  of  milk  daily 
to  New  York  City,  which  is  somewhat  more  than  6%  of  the 
city's  supply.  This  comes  from  2800  dairy  farms.  There  are 
a  total  of  55,000  dairy  farms  in  Pennsylvania.  There  is  no 
inspection  by  the  State  Department  of  Health  nor  by  the  State 
Department  of  Agriculture  and  the  matter  of  dairy  inspection 
is  left  in  the  hands  of  the  local  health  officers. 

Summarizing  these  results  we  face  the  fact  that  New  York 
City  receives  its  milk  from  44,000  dairy  farms  located  in  six 
states,  and  that  these  states  have  not  a  sufficient  appropriation 
of  money  or  a  sufficient  staff  at  their  disposal  either  in  their 
departments  of  health  or  their  departments  of  agriculture,  to 
exercise  any  effective  control  over  the  milk  production. 

The  question  whether  the  State  or  the  City  should  exercise 
control  over  milk  production  is  an  unsettled  one.  There  is  no 
question,  however,  that  the  states  supplying  milk  to  New  York 
City  do  not  exercise  efficient  control. 

If  we  refer  for  a  moment  to  state  control  over  dairy  cattle 
we  are  met  with  a  peculiar  condition  of  affairs.  Most  of  the 
states  have  quarantine  laws  against  the  importation  of  dis- 
eased cattle  from  another  state  and  requiring  the  tuberculin 
testing  of  cattle  which  are  brought  in  from  another  state.  The 
states  have  reached  the  conclusion  that  the  importation  of 
dairy  cattle  suffering  from  tuberculosis  is  so  serious  a  menace 
against  the  health  of  cattle  within  the  state  that  they  must 


174      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

establish  laws  against  such  importation.  And  yet,  within  each 
state  cattle  wander  about  at  random  from  one  farm  to  another 
and  are  bought  and  sold  and  shipped  around  the  state,  trans- 
ferring tuberculosis  from  herd  to  herd  and  keeping  up  the  in- 
fection. New  York  State  is  afraid  of  the  Pennsylvania  brand 
of  tuberculosis,  but  apparently  has  no  fear  of  its  home  prod- 
uct. New  Jersey  is  in  great  dread  of  tuberculosis  from  New 
York  State,  but  the  New  Jersey  brand  of  bovine  tuberculosis 
is  passed  around  from  farm  to  farm  with  the  utmost  freedom. 
Now  it  seems  to  me  that  if  it  is  a  bad  thing  for  the  tuberculous 
cow  to  cross  the  state  line,  for  the  same  reasons  it  is  a  bad 
thing  for  the  tuberculous  cow  to  cross  the  line  fence  between 
two  dairy  farms.  And  if  it  is  proper  that  one  state  should 
have  quarantine  laws  against  the  importation  of  tuberculous 
cattle  from  another  state,  it  seems  to  me  equally  proper  that 
measures  should  be  taken  to  prevent  the  transfer  of  tubercu- 
lous cattle  from  farm  to  farm. 

If  states  should  keep  their  tuberculous  cattle  at  home,  there 
is  no  reason  why  dairy  farmers  should  not  be  made  to  feel  the 
necessity  of  keeping  their  tuberculous  cattle  at  home.  There 
are  numerous  physical  and  commercial  reasons  in  favor  of  hav- 
ing tuberculous  cattle  bought  and  sold  and  shipped  around  the 
state  but  from  a  public  health  standpoint  and  particularly 
from  the  standpoint  of  preventing  the  spread  of  tubercular  in- 
fection among  the  cattle  it  is  certain  that  a  state  law  pro- 
hibiting the  transfer  of  cattle  known  to  be  tuberculous  or 
which  have  not  passed  the  tuberculin  test  from  leaving  the 
farm  on  which  they  have  been  located  until  they  have  success- 
fully passed  such  a  test,  is  the  only  means  of  bringing  to  an 
end  the  continued  infection  which  now  takes  place. 

If  our  states  do  not  control  sanitation  and  if  they  do  not 
control  tuberculosis,  can  our  cities  and  towns  be  expected  to 
do  so? 

It  is  easier  to  bring  about  reforms  in  a  small  town  than  in 
a  large  city,  and  to  the  small  town,  therefore,  one  might  nat- 
urally look  for  an  illustration  of  what  results  can  be  achieved 
and  what  measures  are  most  effective  in  milk  reform. 

The  milk  millennium  has  almost  arrived  in  the  town  of  Mont- 
clair,  New  Jersey,  having  a  population  of  twenty  thousand 
persons.  The  fashion  for  clean  milk  was  first  set  for  the  town 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  175 

perhaps  by  Stephen  Francisco,  cooperating  with  the  Essex 
County  Milk  Commission,  headed  by  Dr.  Coit,  father  of  certi- 
fied milk.  The  Board  of  Health  of  Montclair  composed  of  un- 
usually enlightened  men,  has  employed  during  the  past  six  years 
a  succession  of  health  officers  trained  by  Professor  Sedgwick 
of  the  Massachusetts  Institute  of  Technology.  Together  they 
have  carried  on  a  milk  campaign  which  has  accomplished  great 
results.  Four  chief  weapons  have  been  used: — (1)  A  rigid 
dairy  inspection  and  scoring  by  the  score  card  system.  (2) 
Regular  bacteriological  examinations  and  a  bacteriological 
standard  to  which  the  milk  must  conform.  (3)  The  compul- 
sory tuberculin  testing  of  dairy  cattle.  (4)  The  regular  pub- 
lication of  the  results  of  dairy  inspections,  bacteriological 
analyses  and  tuberculin  tests  with  the  names  of  milk  dealers  so 
that  the  citizens  could  know  the  character  of  the  herd,  the 
character  of  the  dairy,  and  the  character  of  the  milk  sold  by 
each  dealer.  Of  the  four  measures  used  perhaps  the  publicity 
is  the  greatest.  The  results  of  this  campaign  are  as  follows : 
Six  years  ago  there  were  33  milk  dealers  and  only  one  herd  of 
tuberculin  tested  cattle.  32  dealers  sold  milk  for  8c.  and  some 
of  them  for  7c.  One  dealer  sold  milk  for  12c.  To-day,  there 
are  only  11  milk  dealers.  20  have  fallen  by  the  wayside,  and 
if  they  are  still  in  business  are  furnishing  milk  which  Mont- 
clair has  discarded  to  neighboring  towns.  Of  the  11  dealers 
to-day,  8  sell  tuberculin  tested  milk,  &  have  failed  to  have  their 
herds  tested  and  proceedings  are  taken  against  them  by  the 
Board  of  Health.  The  price  of  milk  has  advanced  during  the 
six  years  so  that  now  the  average  price  in  Montclair  is  lOc. 
per  quart. 

I  want  to  read  you  the  reports  of  the  bacteriological  analy- 
ses made  of  the  milk  of  these  13  dealers,  averaged  from  the 
monthly  analyses  of  the  last  six  months.  Each  bacterial  count 
represents  an  individual  dealer :— 4650 ;  5933;  6267;  11,100; 
23,867;  25,167;  31,333;  34,200;  50,417;  79,833;  84,200; 
288,117.  The  question  of  pasteurization  has  not  yet  become 
an  issue  in  Montclair  because  of  their  success  in  securing  tu- 
berculin tested  milk. 

The  following  cities  in  this  country  have  ordinances  requir- 
ing the  tuberculin  testing  of  cattle  whose  milk  is  to  be  sold  in 
a  raw  condition : — Chicago ;  Milwaukee ;  Minneapolis  ;  New 


176      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

Orleans  ;  Berkeley,  Cal. ;  Duluth,  Minn. ;  Toronto,  Canada  ;  and 
there  are  probably  others. 

Bacteriological  standards  for  raw  milk  are  demanded  of 
course  by  all  certified  milk  commissions.  They  are  also  de- 
manded by  Chicago,  Milwaukee,  and  Boston,  and  are  under 
consideration  by  a  large  number  of  other  cities  and  towns. 
Pasteurization  is  made  compulsory  in  Chicago  for  all  milk 
coming  from  cattle  which  have  not  successfully  passed  the  tu- 
berculin test.  It  was  recommended  by  the  Milk  Commission 
appointed  by  Mayor  McClellan  and  by  the  District  of  Colum- 
bia Milk  Commission  for  milk  produced  in  the  same  manner. 
It  is  recommended  as  a  sanitary  measure  by  the  majority  of 
sanitarians  worthy  of  the  name,  who  have  investigated  the 
milk  question,  for  all  milk  of  a  questionable  character. 

If  we  turn  now  to  the  control  exercised  by  our  local  depart- 
ment over  the  milk  supply  of  this  city,  we  find  that  their  ef- 
forts have  been  limited  chiefly  to  the  inspection  of  dairies. 
Since  the  states  have  not  carried  out  dairy  inspection,  the  city 
has  been  compelled  to  do  so.  New  York,  in  common  with  other 
cities,  has  been  compelled  to  extend  the  influence  of  its  health 
department  far  beyond  its  natural  geographical  limits.  The 
health  inspectors  of  Boston  and  New  York  meet  on  common 
ground  in  western  Massachusetts ;  the  men  of  Albany,  Syra- 
cuse, Rochester  and  Buffalo  meet  the  men  of  New  York  where 
the  milk  sheds  of  those  cities  overlap.  Dairy  farmers  exercise 
their  choice  as  to  which  market  they  will  ship  milk  and  that  city 
which  passes  the  most  rigid  rules  for  the  control  of  milk  pro- 
duction pays  the  penalty  by  the  loss  of  a  portion  of  its  supply. 

The  appropriation  for  milk  inspection  and  the  force  of  milk 
inspectors  at  the  disposition  of  our  city  Department  of  Health 
has  been  insufficient.  At  least  three  times  as  many  country 
milk  inspectors  as  we  now  have  are  necessary  to  properly  in- 
spect the  44,000  dairy  farms  supplying  our  milk.  At  least 
twice  as  many  city  milk  inspectors  as  we  now  have  are  neces- 
sary to  inspect  the  twelve  thousand  stores  and  milk  shops  lo- 
cated in  Greater  New  York;  but  if  we  assume  that  the  activi- 
ties of  milk  inspection  have  been  expanded  to  their  full  limits, 
I  want  to  ask  whether  even  then  the  consumers  of  milk  in  New 
York  City  can  receive  proper  protection  against  milk  borne 
infections  ? 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  177 

New  York  has  no  bacteriological  standard  for  milk.  The 
laboratory  examination  of  milk  for  bacteria  is  fully  recognized 
when  properly  carried  out  as  a  reliable  method  for  determining 
the  sanitary  character  of  milk.  This  thought  is  well  expressed 
by  the  Milk  Commission  of  the  County  Medical  Society  in  one 
of  its  publications,  in  these  words,  "The  most  practical  stand- 
ard for  the  estimation  of  cleanliness  in  the  handling  and  care 
of  milk  is  its  relative  freedom  from  bacteria."  Chicago  has 
now  obtained  legal  recognition  for  the  bacteria  count  of  milk 
by  bringing  successful  prosecutions  against  those  milk  dealers 
who  market  milk  containing  excessive  numbers  of  bacteria. 
The  numbers  of  bacteria  in  New  York's  milk  supply  are  at 
times  enormous.  Milk  prosecutions  are  made  on  a  butter  fat 
basis  but  a  dealer  may  sell  milk  containing  millions  of  bacteria 
without  prosecution.  Such  classification  as  has  been  suggested 
in  our  ordinances  is  purely  a  voluntary  one  and  there  is  no 
compulsory  bacteriological  standard.  The  milk  dealer  and 
the  milk  consumer  are  at  liberty  to  produce  and  to  purchase 
milk  containing  bacteria  without  limit.  I  want  to  say,  there- 
fore, that  in  view  of  the  knowledge  which  we  have  at  the  pres- 
ent time  of  the  relation  of  bacteria  to  milk,  I  believe  New 
York  City  should  have  bacteriological  standards  for  raw  milk, 
for  pasteurized  milk,  and  also  for  milk  before  it  is  pasteurized. 
Such  standards  may  be  made  liberal  at  first  and  more  strict  as 
improvements  are  brought  about. 

A  large  portion  of  this  city's  supply  comes  from  cattle  which 
have  tuberculosis,  and  is  produced  under  conditions  which  cer- 
tainly expose  it  to  other  infectious  diseases.  New  York  City 
has  no  ordinances  making  the  tuberculin  testing  of  cattle  com- 
pulsory. Some  of  our  milk  contains  tubercle  bacilli,  some  of 
it  does  not.  No  man  can  tell  from  the  appearance  of  the  milk 
bottle  which  is  which.  It  is  admitted  that  the  state  authorities 
and  that  our  own  health  department  are  unable  to  control 
bovine  tuberculosis  or  to  prevent  milk  from  being  shipped  to 
the  city  containing  these  tubercle  bacilli.  The  raw  milk  sup- 
plied to  the  consumers  of  New  York  at  the  present  time  is  a 
mystery.  It  carries  no  label  to  indicate  whether  it  is  good  or 
bad.  The  public  is  in  the  dark.  They  have  the  right  to  as- 
sume that  since  the  Department  of  Health  issues  permits  and 
allows  this  milk  to  be  delivered  at  the  door,  it  is  safe.  Certi- 


178      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

fied  milk  and  guaranteed  milk  carry  their  credentials  on  the 
bottle,  and  are  endorsed  by  the  Health  Department  as  safe. 
Pasteurized  milk  must  be  labeled  "Pasteurized,"  but  the  citizens 
do  not  know  as  yet  whether  this  label  is  a  badge  of  honor  or  a 
mark  of  disgrace. 

For  five  years  I  was  a  producer  of  certified  milk.  At  the 
present  time  I  am  actively  cooperating  with  the  New  York 
Milk  Committee  and  the  New  York  Dairy  Demonstration  Com- 
pany in  showing  that  a  clean,  tuberculin  tested  milk,  can  be 
produced  at  a  moderate  cost.  The  importance  of  pushing  for- 
ward sanitary  measures  and  encouraging  the  production  of 
clean  raw  milk,  I  fully  appreciate ;  and  yet,  I  want  to  say  that 
if  it  were  in  my  power,  every  quart  of  milk  sold  on  the  streets 
of  New  York  City  to-morrow  morning  would  be  thoroughly 
pasteurized  with  the  exception  of  the  certified  and  guaranteed 
milks ;  and  I  do  not  feel  at  all  sure  that  the  pasteurization  of 
the  certified  and  guaranteed  milks  would  not  be  a  good  thing. 

I  have  just  come  from  the  investigation  of  an  extensive  ty- 
phoid epidemic  which  I  traced  to  milk  which  was  produced 
under  all  of  the  certified  conditions ;  and  yet  this  milk  was  the 
cause  of  30  cases  of  typhoid  fever  and  two  deaths,  because  one 
of  the  men  handling  the  milk  proved  to  be  a  chronic  carrier  of 
typhoid  germs.  If  this  milk  had  been  pasteurized,  the  epi- 
epidemic  would  not  have  occurred. 

Many  of  the  large  milk  dealers  of  New  York  City  have  seen 
the  handwriting  on  the  wall  and  have  had  the  courage  in  the 
face  of  public  opposition,  to  place  their  industry  on  a  pasteur- 
ized basis.  They  have  found  that  this  not  only  gives  stability 
to  their  business  but  that  it  is  actual  life  insurance  to  the 
consumers  of  their  milk. 

I  wish  to  urge  upon  our  Department  of  Health  that  it 
should  no  longer  hesitate.  I  believe  that  pasteurization  of  all 
milk  not  fit  to  use  in  the  raw  state  should  be  made  compulsory. 
I  believe  that  the  adoption  of  this  measure  immediately  by  our 
city  would  be  the  greatest  single  step  that  has  ever  been  taken 
in  the  interest  of  public  health. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  I  am  going  to  introduce  one  of  the  most  en- 
thusiastic and  one  of  the  earliest  workers  in  the  pure  milk  crusade, 
and  one  who  has  a  way  of  accomplishing  great  things  in  the  pure 
milk  movement,  although  nobody  knows  how  it  happens.  He  has 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  179 

promised  me  to  keep  within  the  time  limit,  and  I  have  a  surprise 
for  you  at  the  end  of  the  session,  so  you  will  please  remain  in  your 
seats.  It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  introduce  Dr.  G.  Lloyd  Ma- 
gruder,  of  Washington. 

DR.  MAGRUDER  spoke  as  follows: 

THE  NECESSITY  OF  A  CONFERENCE  FOR  THE  IM- 
PROVEMENT OF  THE  NATIONAL  MILK  SUPPLY 

MR.  CHAIRMAN,  AND  LADIES  AND  GENTLEMEN  :  Dr.  Coit  and 
I  have  gone  along  together  in  this  crusade  for  good  milk.  He 
happens  to  have  ante-dated  me  one  year.  He  commenced  in 
189S  and  I  commenced  in  1894.  We  have  worked  for  results 
together  from  that  time  until  the  present  time,  and,  fortu- 
ately,  we  have  had  some  magnificent  results. 

The  action  of  the  "New  York  Milk  Committee"  in  calling 
this  conference  for  the  consideration  of  measures  for  the  im- 
provement of  the  National  Milk  Supply  is  to  be  highly  com- 
mended. The  accumulated  facts  as  to  the  dissemination  of 
diseases  by  dairy  products,  and  the  methods  of  prevention  are 
now  sufficient  to  warrant  the  prompt  adoption  of  standards  and 
regulations  that  can  be  universally  applied. 

The  repeated  outbreaks  of  milk-borne  diseases  and  the  high 
infant  mortality  during  this  past  year  augments  the  urgency 
for  this  action.  The  present  outbreak  of  typhoid  fever  at  the 
U.  S.  Naval  Academy  is  the  most  recent  incident  of  milk  in- 
fection. The  U.  S.  Military  Academy  at  West  Point  had  a 
similar  experience  in  1903.  This  is  the  more  regretable,  be- 
cause with  the  proper  precautions  which  are  now  available, 
many  of  these  incidents  could  have  been  avoided. 

Being  a  general  practitioner  of  medicine,  I  have  been  deeply 
interested  in  the  sanitary  affairs  of  the  City  of  Washington. 
This  interest  has  been  accentuated  by  the  fact  that  I  have  been 
repeatedly  consulted  as  to  the  dangers  of  contracting  typhoid 
fever  by  persons  contemplating  a  residence  in  Washington.  I 
have  participated  in  and  watched  the  campaign  for  Pure  Milk 
since  1894?.  Much  study  has  been  given  to  this  subject  and 
many  most  valuable  publications  have  been  issued.  It  may 
serve  a  useful  purpose  to  briefly  review  some  of  the  work  done 
in  Washington  and  point  out  some  of  the  conditions  that  still 
exist  there  and  elsewhere. 

More  detailed  accounts  of  the  efforts  for  pure  water  and 


180      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

pure  milk  are  contained  in  four  government  publications,  and 
in  articles  in  the  Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Association. 
The  four  government  publications  are: — 

1.  "Report  on  Typhoid  Fever  in  the  District  of  Columbia," 
submitted  by  the  Medical  Society  of  the  District  of  Columbia 
to  the  Committee  on  the  District  of  Columbia  of  the  United 
States  House  of  Representatives,  June  14*,  1894,  and  published 
by  Congress  as  a  congressional  document  in  1894. 

2.  "Sanitary  Milk  Production."     Report,  of  a  Conference 
appointed  by  the  Commissioners  of  the  District  of  Columbia. 
Issued  August  20,  1907,  by  the  United  States  Department  of 
Agriculture  as  Circular  114*  of  the  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry. 

3.  "Milk  and  its  Relation  to  the  Public  Health,"  issued  in 
January,  1908,  by  the  United  States  Treasury  Department  as 
Bulletin  41  of  the  Hygienic  Laboratory  of  the  Public  Health 
and   Marine  Hospital   Service    (revised   and   issued  January, 
1910,  as  Bulletin  56). 

4.  "The  Dissemination  of  Disease  by  Dairy  Products,  and 
Methods  for  Prevention,"  issued  April  28,  1910  as  Circular 
153,  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry,  Department  of  Agriculture. 

The  articles  in  The  Journal  of  the  American  Medical  Asso- 
ciation are: 

1.  "The  Milk  Supply  of  Washington,  D.  C.,"  read  by  me 
in  the  Section  of  Hygiene  and  Sanitary  Science  of  the  Amer- 
ican Medical  Association  in  June,  1907,  and  published  in  the 
Journal,  September  28,  1907,  Vol.  XLIX,  pp.  1088-1093. 

2.  "Further  Observations  on  the  Milk  Supply  of  Washing- 
ton, D.  C.,"  also  read  by  me  in  the  same  Section  of  the  Asso- 
ciation, 'June,  1910,  and  published  in  the  Journal,  August  13, 
1910,  Vol.  LV,  pp.  581-589. 

These  publications  showed  that  the  Washington  water  sup- 
ply was  not  the  cause  of  the  high  typhoid  rate.  They  dem- 
onstrated that  the  contaminated  water  supplies  on  the  dairy 
farms,  and  contaminated  milk,  were  important  factors. 

Copies  of  these  and  other  government  publications  can  be 
obtained  by  applying  to  the  respective  departments.  It  will 
be  seen  that  all  of  them  with  the  exception  of  the  two  papers 
read  before  the  American  Medical  Association  are  the  products 
of  a  number  working  together  either  in  committee,  in  confer- 
ence, or  by  the  assembling  of  monographs. 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  181 

The  influence  for  good  of  the  above  mentioned  and  other 
publications  emanating  from  the  National  Capital  has  been  not 
only  local  but  has  been  widespread  throughout  the  United 
States  and  Europe,  and  has  even  extended  to  Australia. 

The  Report  on  Typhoid  Fever  in  the  District  of  Columbia 
was  prepared  by  a  Committee  of  the  Medical  Society.  By  in- 
vitation the  report  was  presented  to  the  Committee  on  the  Dis- 
trict of  Columbia  of  the  House  of  Representatives.  It  was 
found  that  there  were  four  principal  causes  for  the  occurrence 
of  the  disease:  (a)  Potomac  water-supply;  (b)  pollution  of 
the  soil  by  the  leakage  from  privies,  defective  sewers  and  the 
backing  up  of  sewage  from  tidal  movements ;  (c)  to  drinking 
of  well  or  pumpwater ;  (d)  drinking  of  contaminated  milk. 

Among  the  recommendations  of  the  committee,  which  were 
unanimously  adopted  by  the  medical  society,  were  the  construc- 
tion of  works  for  the  filtration  of  the  Potomac  or  Washington 
water — the  only  method  of  purification — the  abandonment  as 
rapidly  as  possible  of  all  wells  within  the  city  limits ;  the  re- 
pairing of  defective  sewers ;  the  extension  of  the  water  supply 
and  the  sewers ;  the  making  of  house  connections  to  these ;  care- 
ful inspection  of  all  dairies  in  the  District  from  which  the  milk- 
supply  was  drawn ;  and  the  enactment  of  a  law  by  which  no  milk 
shall  be  sold  in  the  District  without  a  permit  from  the  health 
office.  The  inspection  should  cover  an  examination  at  the 
dairies  of  all  possible  sources  of  infection,  including  the  water- 
supply. 

The  city  authorities,  recognizing  the  importance  of  these 
recommendations,  immediately  sought  remedial  legislation. 
The  United  States  Congress  was  prompt  to  respond  and  passed 
the  Milk  Law  of  1895,  which  was  approved  on  the  2nd  of 
March  of  that  year.  This  law  required  the  inspection  of  all 
city  depots  and  dairy  farms  and  a  permit  from  the  health  of- 
ficer of  the  District  of  Columbia  before  milk  could  be  sold  for 
consumption  in  the  City  of  Washington. 

The  records  of  these  inspections  were  kept  upon  cards  known 
as  "Score  Cards."  Washington  has  the  honor  of  initiating  in- 
spection and  the  introduction  of  "Score  Cards."  This  is  at- 
tested by  Mr.  E.  H.  Webster,  then  Chief  of  the  Dairy  Division, 
Department  of  Agriculture,  in  Bulletin  41  B.  P.  H.  and  M. 
H.  S. 


182      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

The  use  of  score  cards  has  proved  to  be  very  popular  as 
well  as  valuable.  Many  States  and  cities  have  adopted  them. 
The  United  States  Department  of  Agriculture  reports  that  it 
has  supplied  them  and  explained  their  use  to  about  300  cities 
in  89  states,  and  that  they  are  being  widely  used. 

When  we  consider  the  magnificent  results  that  have  thus 
been  obtained  by  the  Department  of  Agriculture,  coupled  with 
the  beneficent  results  accruing  from  drug  and  food  inspection 
by  the  same  Department,  it  seems  that  it  is  now  time  to  recog- 
nize the  value  of  the  work  for  the  conservation  of  the  public 
health,  and  discontinue  the  refrain  that  more  attention  is  paid 
to  sick  hogs  than  to  human  beings. 

The  enforcement  of  inspection  has  proved  to  be  an  impor- 
tant educational  factor. 

Washington  City  also  furnishes  an  excellent  illustration  of 
the  effects  of  intelligent  inspection.  The  inspectors  and  the 
producer  have  learned  to  understand  each  other.  Many  of 
the  farmers  welcomed  the  criticisms  and  proceeded  to  remedy 
defects,  as  it  was  found  that  much  could  be  done  at  an  insig- 
nificant outlay  of  time  and  money.  Much  higher  scores  were 
given  in  many  cases  upon  the  second  inspection. 

As  a  result  of  this  educational  inspection  a  portion  of  the 
milk  is  now  delivered  in  Washington  from  tuberculin  tested 
cows  with  less  than  10,000  bacteria  per  c.  c.,  and  sometimes  as 
few  as  8500  per  c.  c. 

Inspection  has  worked  well ;  it  should  be  perfected  and  ex- 
tended. It  should  be  conducted  by  national,  state,  and  mu- 
nicipal authorities  and  not  left  to  the  enthusiasm  of  public 
spirited  citizens  and  physicians.  Strong  efforts  should  be 
made  to  secure  uniform  requirements  that  duplication  of  work 
can  be  avoided. 

While  the  law  of  1895  has  accomplished  much,  there  is  in  the 
light  of  advanced  knowledge  an  imperative  demand  for  addi- 
tional legislation.  The  Courts  in  many  instances  have  leaned 
towards  the  violator  of  regulations.  On  this  account  author- 
itative standards  must  be  secured. 

The  Classification  submitted  by  Dr.  A.  D.  Melvin,  Chief  of 
the  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry,  and  adopted  by  the  Washing- 
ton Milk  Conference  has  been  so  universally  commended  that  it 
is  now  as  generally  accepted  as  though  it  had  been  a  legally 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  183 

adopted  standard.  Many  health  officers  in  this  country  have 
used  Circular  114  for  the  purpose  of  formulating  laws  and 
regulations  to  govern  the  milk  supplies  under  their  jurisdiction. 
The  following  editorial  from  the  London  Lancet  Vol.  11, 
1907,  No.  XIII,  shows  in  what  estimation  the  circular  was  held 
in  England. 

FEDERAL,   TEXT    BOOK    ON    PURE  MILK    QUESTIONS 

"The  Agricultural  Department  at  Washington  has  issued  a 
volume  of  reports  containing  the  results  of  the  conference  of 
experts  called  together  by  the  department  to  consider  the  vari- 
ous questions  now  agitating  the  country  in  regard  to  the  purity 
of  the  milk  supply.  The  conference  consisted  of  35  recognized 
experts  in  the  study  of  the  questions  involved.  This  volume 
will  be  the  recognized  text-book  of  the  health  authorities  of 
this  country  for  the  present,  as  it  carries  the  weight  of  au- 
thority of  these  experts  and  the  indorsement  of  the  Depart- 
ment of  Agriculture.  In  brief,  these  experts  agreed  upon  a 
definite  milk  program  and  have  recommended  that  public  safety 
should  be  assured  by  legislation  establishing  three  classes  or 
grades  of  milk — namely,  certified,  inspected,  and  pasteurized. 
They  would  not  tolerate  any  trifling  with  the  public  in  the  sale 
of  so-called  certified  milk.  They  would  require  that  such  milk 
should  come  from  dairies  subject  to  periodical  inspection  and 
that  the  milk  should  be  frequently  analyzed;  that  the  cows 
should  be  proved  to  be  free  from  tuberculosis  by  the  tuberculin 
test  and  from  all  other  communicable  diseases ;  that  the  milk 
should  be  handled  by  persons  free  from  infection ;  that  the  milk 
should  contain  not  more  than  10,000  bacteria  to  the  cubic 
centimeter;  and  that  it  should  not  be  more  than  twelve  hours 
old  when  delivered  to  the  consumer.  The  conference  would 
permit  the  sale  of  such  milk  under  the  label  'certified,'  and 
would  allow  the  sale  raw,  under  the  label  'inspected,'  of  milk 
that  had  been  similarly  produced  but  did  not  quite  come  up  to 
the  requirements  for  certification,  provided  that  such  milk  came 
in  all  cases  from  tuberculin-tested  cows  and  did  not  contain 
more  than  100,000  bacteria  to  the  cubic  centimeter.  Such 
milk,  and  such  only,  do  these  experts  believe  should  be  sold  raw. 
all  other  milk  should  be  patseurized.  The  declaration  of  the 
conference  is  as  follows :  'Milk  from  the  dairies  not  able  to 


184      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

comply  with  the  requirements  specified  for  the.  production  of 
milk  of  classes  1  (certified)  and  %  (inspected)  is  to  be  pasteur- 
ized before  being  sold,'  and  then  sold  under  the  designation 
'pasteurized  milk.'  All  milk  of  unknown  origin  shall  be  placed 
in  class  3  and  shall  be  subjected  to  clarification  and  pasteur- 
ization at  central  pasteurization  plants  which  shall  be  under 
the  personal  supervision  of  officers  of  the  health  department. 
The  term  'pasteurization'  is  explained  to  mean  the  heating  of 
the  milk  to  a  temperature  of  150°  F.  for  twenty  minutes,  or 
160°  for  ten  minutes,  and  immediate  cooling  to  50°." 

The  members  of  this  conference  were  members  of  citizens' 
associations,  scientists  from  the  various  Government  labora- 
tories, other  representatives  from  Government  departments, 
milk  producers  and  dealers,  and  medical  men  of  Washington. 

The  series  of  monographs  in  Bulletin  56 — "Milk  and  its  Re- 
lation to  the  Public  Health,"  has  fulfilled  the  prediction  that 
this  work  would  serve  as  a  guide  for  the  world.  The  daily 
quotations  from  it  attest  its  value. 

Year  after  year  since  the  spring  of  1907  without  success 
have  efforts  been  made  to  secure  from  Congress  the  legislation 
recommended  by  the  Washington  Milk  Conference.  This  agi- 
tation has,  however,  produced  good  results.  Much  better  milk 
is  now  delivered. 

The  greatest  step  forward  has  been  made  in  the  last  few 
weeks.  Encouraged  by  the  universal  commendation  of  the 
recommendations  of  the  Washington  Milk  Conference,  and  for- 
tified by  the  knowledge  that  high  bacterial  counts  are  proofs 
of  old  or  dirty  milk,  the  Department  of  Agriculture  on  Octo- 
ber 14?  issued  the  following  order: 

"SPECIAL,   ORDER   TO    THE   CHIEFS   OF   BUREAUS,    OFFICES,    AND 
INDEPENDENT  DIVISIONS 

"In  order  that  no  milk  containing  extraneous  matter,  raw 
milk  from  cows  not  known  to  be  free  from  tuberculosis,  or  milk 
of  unknown  origin  may  be  sold  within  certain  buildings  occu- 
pied by  the  Department  of  Agriculture  in  Washington,  D.  C., 
it  is  hereby  ordered  that  no  milk  shall  be  sold  within  any 
building  occupied  by  the  Department  of  Agriculture  which  is 
not  equal  to  the  classification  as  defined  in  Bureau  of  Animal 
Industry  Circular 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  185 

"The  determinations  as  to  the  standards  of  such  milk  shall 
be  made  by  the  Dairy  Division,  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry. 

"Officers  of  the  various  bureaus  and  divisions  in  which  milk 
is  used  will  see  that  this  order  is  enforced. 
"Effective  October  25,  1910. 

"(Signed)  JAMES  WILSON, 

"Secretary  of  Agriculture." 

This  action  has  already  been  followed  by  the  Interior  De- 
partment, Department  of  Commerce  and  Labor,  Navy  Depart- 
ment, War  Department,  State  Department  and  Treasury  De- 
partment. 

The  influence  of  another  publication,  Circular  118,  Bureau 
of  Animal  Industry,  has  also  been  very  great.  This  circular 
contains  the  work  of  Schroeder  and  Cotton  upon  "The  Un- 
suspected but  Dangerously  Tuberculous  Cow."  This  work 
furnished  the  evidence  for  the  "Third  Interim  Report"  the 
final  report  of  the  British  Royal  Commission  upon  the  Rela- 
tion of  Human  and  Animal  Tuberculosis  and  the  authority  for 
the  issue,  May  29,  1909,  by  the  Board  of  Agriculture  and 
Fisheries  of  Great  Britain  of  "The  Tuberculosis  Order  of 
1909."  This  order  provided  that  after  January  1,  1910,  milk 
sold  in  Great  Britain  should  come  from  "tuberculin  tested  cows 
or  should  be  sterilized."  Dr.  Sims-Woodhead  stated  to  Dr. 
Schroeder  at  the  International  Congress  on  Tuberculosis  held 
in  Washington  in  1908,  that  the  above  mentioned  Committee 
had  repeated  and  confirmed  the  experiments  of  Schroeder  and 
Cotton  in  every  particular.  Numerous  other  investigators 
have  confirmed  these  experiments. 

The  following  extracts  from  an  editorial  in  the  London 
Lancet  of  June  25,  1910,  show  its  estimation  for  Circular  153, 
Bureau  of  Animal  Industry,  one  of  the  recent  publications  of 
the  Department  of  Agriculture. 

"The  circulars  which  are  issued  from  time  to  time  by  the 
Bureau  of  Animal  Industry  of  the  United  States  Department 
of  Agriculture  have  one  special  feature  in  common  apart  from 
their  high  scientific  value,  and  that  is  their  clearness  and  di- 
rectness. Circular  No.  153,  which  has  recently  been  pub- 
lished, deals  by  means  of  a  series  of  short  papers  with  the  ques- 
tion of  preventing  the  spread  of  disease  by  dairy  produce,  and 
most  attention  is  directed  to  the  difficult  subject  of  tubercu- 


186      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

losis,  as  well  as  incidentally  to  enteric  fever  and  other  milk- 
borne  diseases.  The  first  paper  is  by  Dr.  G.  Lloyd  Magruder 
of  Washington,  who  supplies  some  telling  plates  relative  to 
unwholesome  cow-houses,  ungroomed  cows,  and  deposits  from 
dirty  milk,  and  who  lays  great  emphasis  upon  the  importance 
of  the  pasteurization  of  milk  as  an  immediate  preventive  meas- 
ure." 

The  cattle  of  America  are  not,  it  is  alleged,  so  commonly 
affected  with  tuberculosis  as  those  of  Europe,  but,  notwith- 
standing this,  the  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry  found  that  33 
per  cent  of  the  centrifuge  slime  examined  at  public  creameries 
showed  tubercle  bacilli.  Dr.  J.  R.  Mohler  lays  stress  upon 
the  risk  of  contracting  tuberculosis  from  milk,  and  draws  at- 
tention to  the  fact  that  the  figures  as  regards  primary  intes- 
tinal tuberculosis  in  children  may  range  from  %  per  cent 
(Bovaird)  to  as  high  as  45.5  per  cent  (Heller)  of  the  tuber- 
culous cases  examined.  He  reminds  his  readers  that  there  is 
conclusive  evidence  to  show  that  tuberculous  infection  may  be 
taken  through  the  intestinal  tract  without  leaving  any  lesion 
in  the  abdominal  cavity,  the  first  tuberculous  deposits  being 
found  in  the  lungs  or  the  thoracic  glands,  a  circumstance  which 
raises  the  question  as  to  how  far  pulmonary  tuberculosis  in 
infants,  even  in  the  absence  of  intestinal  lesions,  may  not  be 
due  to  tuberculous  milk.  If  this  be  so,  the  fact  that  from  15 
to  &5  per  cent  of  all  milch  cows  in  the  District  of  Columbia 
are  tuberculous  is  a  very  serious  matter.  Dr.  Mohler  then 
goes  on  to  deal  with  the  risk  of  tuberculous  infection  from  but- 
ter and  cheese,  both  of  which  have  been  shown  experimentally 
to  be  capable,  if  made  from  tuberculous  milk,  of  causing  tuber- 
culosis in  guinea  pigs.  His  chief  recommendations  are  that 
milk  should  either  come  from  tuberculin-tested  cattle  or  be  ef- 
ficiently pasteurized,  and  that  all  milch  cows  on  dairy  farms 
should  be  tattooed  or  otherwise  marked.  To  the  same  inter- 
esting circular  Dr.  E.  C.  Schroeder,  superintendent  of  the 
experimental  station  at  the  Bureau  of  Animal  Industry,  fur- 
nishes some  very  cogent  reasons  why  we  should  protect  our- 
selves against  infected  dairy  products.  He  points  out  that 
tuberculosis  has  a  unique  place  among  pathological  conditions, 
inasmuch  as  it  is  one  of  the  relatively  small  number  of  infec- 
tious diseases  that  attack  more  than  one  species  of  animals, 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  187 

and  that  it  is  the  only  known  infectious  disease  from  which  no 
vertebrate  species  is  immune.  Although  tuberculosis  has  re- 
ceived more  attention  than  any  other  disease  from  investiga- 
tors in  pathology,  bacteriology,  and  hygiene,  our  knowledge  of 
it  is  in  some  respects  extremely  rudimentary.  As  he  observes, 
we  know  so  little  about  its  period  of  incubation  that  we  are 
unable  to  determine  whether  those  are  right  who  believe  that 
tuberculosis  arises  from  infection  that  may  enter  the  body  at 
any  time  of  life,  or  those  who  believe  that  it  almost  constantly 
develops  from  latent  tubercle  bacilli  taken  into  the  body  dur- 
ing the  milk-drinking  period  of  life.  This  is  perhaps  the  crux 
of  the  whole  tuberculosis  problem,  and  it  ought  probably  to  be 
accorded  more  weight  by  those  who  are  inclined  to  attribute 
all  tuberculosis  to  discovered  exposure  to  human  infection. 

On  the  question  of  infectivity  and  hereditary  influence  the 
report  contains  some  valuable  remarks.  We  know,  Dr. 
Schroeder  says,  that  the  revelations  of  post  mortem  examina- 
tions prompt  the  conclusion  that  few  persons  escape  the  tu- 
bercle bacillus,  while  it  is  agreed  that  tuberculosis  develops  with 
peculiar  frequency  when  the  drain  on  the  mental  and  physical 
forces  is  greatest  rather  than  during  periods  following  excep- 
tional exposure  to  infection.  But  we  know  further,  says  this 
authority,  that  the  children  of  tuberculous  parents  succumb 
to  tuberculosis — not  necessarily  as  children — more  commonly 
than  those  of  healthy  parents.  This  is  a  disputed  conclusion. 
With  regard  to  infectivity  Dr.  Schroeder  thinks  that  tubercu- 
losis is  not  so  common  amongst  persons  unusually  exposed  to 
infection  as  we  might  expect;  and  that  men  with  tuberculous 
wives  and  women  with  tuberculous  husbands,  when  their  family 
records  as  regards  tuberculosis  are  clean,  contract  the  disease 
so  rarely  that  their  presumably  intense  exposure  cannot  be 
said  to  infect  them  more  frequently  than  persons  in  general 
become  infected.  The  tubercle  bacillus  is,  he  believes,  peculiar 
in  that  it  is  prone  to  remain  alive  and  virulent  for  long  periods 
in  circumscribed,  closed  tuberculous  lesions  and  that  it  may  re- 
main in  the  body  indefinitely  without  causing  conditions  which 
may  be  identified  as  tuberculosis.  Finally,  he  argues  that  tu- 
bercle bacilli  in  dairy  products  are  either  in  a  fresh  or  well- 
preserved  state,  and  that  they  are  directly  introduced  into  the 
body  with  the  use  of  indespensable  articles  of  food,  while  tuber- 


188      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

cle  bacilli  in  sputum  are  exposed  to  conditions  which  he  con- 
siders almost  certainly  sterilize  them  before  the  sputum  can 
be  pulverized  and  float  in  the  air.  What  ever  chances  adults 
may  be  disposed  to  take  as  regards  exposure  to  tubercle  bacilli 
in  milk  and  dairy  products,  we  must,  he  pleads,  consider  our 
obligations  to  the  children  in  the  matter  of  pure  milk,  and  he 
also  is  obviously  in  favor  of  pasteurization. 

This  report  is  of  peculiar  interest  in  that  it  shows  how  strong 
is  the  feeling  in  scientific  circles  in  America  as  to  the  danger  of 
contracting  tuberculosis  from  milk.  Notwithstanding  the  late 
Professor  Koch's  arguments  at  the  Washington  Congress  in 
1908,  it  is  clear  that  the  American  pathologists  at  the  Bureau 
of  Animal  Industry  are  satisfied  as  to  the  danger  to  be  antic- 
ipated from  milk,  and  have  decided  that  pasteurization  is  one 
of  the  best  means  of  mitigating  such  dangers,  at  any  rate  until 
greater  advances  have  been  made  in  the  direction  of  securing 
a  pure  milk-supply. 

Notwithstanding  these  accumulated  facts  have  received  the 
highest  endorsements,  there  is  still  manifested  great  indiffer- 
ence and  negligence  by  many  physicians,  hospital  directors, 
national,  state  and  municipal  associations  and  authorities,  as 
to  the  gravity  of  the  dangers  lurking  in  contaminated  dairy 
products. 

The  indifference  of  hospital  directors  as  to  the  milk  supplies 
has  been  shown  to  exist  in  many  cities.  Very  high  bacterial 
counts  have  been  observed.  The  following  were  found  in  milk 
furnished  to  Washington  hospitals:  £,000,000  bacteria  per 
cm. ;  2,800,000 ;  8,500,000;  4,000,000;  5,000,000;  10,000,000; 
10,000,000;  15,000,000;  50,000,000;  111,000,000.  (See  Bul- 
letin 4fl,  Bureau  of  Public  Health  and  Marine  Hospital  Serv- 
ice, page  461,  et  seq.) 

These  counts  were  called  to  the  attention  of  the  hospitals 
early  last  spring.  Yet  in  May  last,  but  three  institutions  were 
using  milk  with  less  than  £00,000  bacteria.  In  the  other  insti- 
tutions the  counts  ranged  from  this  number  to  34,100,000.  At 
one  hospital  it  is  reported  that  two  members  of  the  staff  for- 
bade the  use  of  any  but  raw  milk.  The  last  counts  showed 
that  two  samples  of  the  milk  delivered  there  contained  3,400,- 
000  and  £,700,000  bacteria.  The  difference  in  price  of  a  frac- 
tion of  a  cent  to  two  cents,  stands  between  these  supplies  and 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  189 

a  perfectly  pasteurized  supply  with  an  average  of  less  than 
10,000  bacteria  per  c.  c.,  or  a  carefully  inspected  tuberculin 
tested  raw  milk,  with  an  equally  low  count. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  I  submit  to  you  that  we  should  not  treat  with 
scant  courtesy  a  gentleman  who  has  been  delegated  from  a  for- 
eign country  to  come  to  this  meeting,  so  I  urge  you  to  remain  a 
little  longer,  as  we  are  almost  through,  and  I  beg  of  you  to  remain 
until  the  close  of  the  meeting. 

It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  introduce  the  Hon.  W.  F.  Nickle, 
Member  of  the  Legislative  Assembly  of  Ontario,  Canada. 

MR.  NICKLE  said: 

Mr.  Chairman,  Ladies  and  Gentlemen:  Brevity  is  at  all  times 
the  soul  of  wit,  and  when,  after  a  two-days'  conference,  a  quarter 
of  eleven  is  reached,  the  man  certainly  becomes  most  brilliant  who 
is  most  brief.  I  certainly  cannot  let  this  opportunity  pass,  as 
the  representative  of  the  Government  of  the  Province  of  Ontario, 
without  thanking  you,  Mr.  Chairman,  and  the  members  of  the  New 
York  Milk  Committee,  for  the  courtesy  that  was  extended  to  my 
Province  in  asking  that  a  representative  be  sent  to  this  conference; 
and  to  express  my  sense  of  gratification  for  the  many,  many,  ex- 
cellent papers  that  have  been  read.  I  trust  that  in  the  future, 
when  further  conferences  are  held,  the  Province  of  Ontario  and 
the  other  Provinces  of  the  Dominion,  will  not  be  forgotten. 

As  I  said  in  the  beginning,  Sir,  at  this  late  hour  I  am  not  going 
to  discuss  at  any  great  length  the  work  that  is  being  done  in  the 
Province  of  Ontario.  It  does  not  concern  you  very  closely,  and 
yet  it  does  concern  you  to  a  certain  extent,  as  your  state  forms 
the  Southern  boundary  of  our  Province  for  some  distance,  in  the 
neighborhood  of  Ogdensburg,  and  along  the  Niagara  Peninsula. 
Farther  west  we  meet  the  State  of  Michigan  along  the  Detroit 
River  and  at  the  Sault ;  so  Ontario,  to  a  certain  extent,  bounds  you. 

Through  the  lowering  of  your  tariff,  a  considerable  quantity  of 
cream  and  milk  is  finding  its  way  into  your  state,  and  if  it  should 
come  to  a  fuller  reciprocity  in  natural  products  I  think  that  you 
may  look  for  much  more  of  our  dairy  products. 

I  am  here  as  one  of  the  representatives  appointed  by  the  Gov- 
ernment of  Ontario,  to  look  into  the  question  of  the  milk  supply 
of  that  Province.  Alarmed  at  a  decreasing  birth  rate  and  an  in- 
creasing death  rate  in  children,  the  Government  felt  that  it  was 
essential  that  something  should  be  done,  and  it  appointed  a  Com- 
mission to  inquire  into  the  production,  distribution  and  care  of 
milk. 

On  that  Commission  was  a  Scientific  Expert  who  acted  as  Chair- 


190  CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

man,  a  farmer  who  was  President  of  the  Eastern  Dairymen's  Asso- 
ciation, another  farmer  from  the  western  part  of  the  Province, 
where  milk  is  not  so  extensively  produced,  and  your  speaker.  The 
conclusions  the  Commission  arrived  at  were  as  follows: 

That  the  present  laws  governing  the  production,  care  and  dis- 
tribution of  milk  for  human  consumption  are  cumbersome  and  in- 
effective and  should  be  consolidated  and  amplified. 

That  the  general  principles  governing  the  production,  care  and 
distribution  of  milk  for  human  consumption  should  be  fixed  by  the 
Legislature. 

That  inasmuch  as  the  administration  of  such  laws  is  and  must 
remain  in  the  hands  of  the  municipalities,  such  amplification  should 
be  in  the  direction  of  giving  municipal  authorities  larger  powers 
of  licensing  and  supervision. 

That  a  general  definition  of  adulteration  should  be  adopted,  but 
that  municipalities  should  be  given  power  to  fix  a  standard  of  food 
value,  said  standard  to  be  not  less  than  three  per  cent,  butter  fat 
and  twelve  per  cent,  solids. 

That  in  the  interests  of  public  health  and  common  decency  more 
attention  should  be  paid  to  the  cleanliness  of  stables  and  health- 
fulness  of  cattle,  and  to  this  end  the  consuming  municipalities 
should  be  empowered  to  make  inspections  at  the  sources  of  supply 
and  be  urged  to  appoint  veterinarians  to  act  in  conjunction  with 
the  medical  health  officer. 

That  with  a  view  to  lessening  the  alarming  infantile  mortality 
in  the  Province,  municipalities  should  be  empowered  to  establish 
and  maintain  or  assist  in  the  establishment  and  maintenance  of 
infants'  milk  supply  depots. 

That  firm  measures  should  be  taken  to  combat  the  ravages  of 
tuberculosis,  which  constitutes  a  serious  menace  both  to  the  bovine 
and  human  species;  and  that  as  an  initial  step,  along  with  an  edu- 
cational campaign,  all  cows  suffering  from  tuberculosis  of  the  ud- 
der or  showing  clinical  or  physical  evidences  of  the  disease,  or 
whose  milk  is  shown  by  bacteriological  or  microscopical  examina- 
tion to  contain  tubercle  bacilli,  should  be  promptly  removed  from 
dairy  herds. 

That  pasteurization  is  not  a  provincial  ideal,  but  may  be  a  mu- 
nicipal expedient  if  carried  out  in  accordance  with  proper  scientific 
regulations. 

That  in  cities  of  over  50,000  population  no  milk  should  be  sold 
in  shops  except  in  bottles  or  other  sealed  packages. 

That  cans,  bottles  or  other  utensils  used  in  handling  milk  should 
be  used  for  no  other  purpose  and  should  be  promptly  rinsed  by  the 
consumer  on  being  emptied. 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  1Q1 

That  producer,  distributor  and  consumer  should  alike  be  edu- 
cated to  the  importance  of  cleanliness  in  handling  milk  and  to  the 
value  of  prompt  chilling  and  keeping  in  a  cold  place. 

The  Report  of  the  Commission  is  in  a  small  volume.  The  ob- 
ject was  to  write  in  such  simple  language  that  he  who  ran  might 
read.  There  was  no  idea  of  being  technical.  Our  idea  was  to 
educate,  not  to  terrorize.  We  do  not  think  that  we  have  blazed 
the  way  to  truth,  but  we  do  hope  that  we  have  blazed  the  way 
somewhat  toward  it.  Not  only  did  we  avoid  being  technical,  but 
we  endeavored  to  be  practical.  We  recognized  that  it  is  much 
easier  to  solve  problems  on  paper  than  on  the  statute  books  of  a 
country.  Hence  we  endeavored  to  so  mould  our  recommendations 
that  practical  legislators,  who  have  to  weigh  all  phases  of  public 
opinion,  would  not  hesitate  to  adopt  them  and  crystallize  them  into 
laws.  I  ami  glad  to  tell  you  that  the  report  was  promptly  acted 
upon  and  legislation  passed  giving  municipalities  the  right  to  in- 
spect at  the  sources  of  supply,  a  point  which  I  believe  has  been 
much  debated  in  your  country.  This,  however,  is  only  the  begin- 
ning, and  I  anticipate  that  at  the  coming  session  further  legisla- 
tion will  be  enacted  embodying  many  if  not  all  of  the  other  recom- 
mendations which  I  have  just  read  to  you. 

As  you  will  readily  understand,  we  have,  like  you,  Federal  and 
State,  or,  as  we  term  it,  Dominion  and  Provincial  authorities. 
Since  the  issuance  of  our  Report,  which  was  for  the  Provincial 
Legislature,  action  on  the  milk  question  has  been  taken  by  the  Do- 
minion authorities,  who  have  adopted  regulations  for  the  entire 
Dominion. 

Under  the  authority  of  an  Order  in  Council  of  His  Excellency  in 
Council  bearing  date  the  3rd  day  of  November  instant,  and 
in  virtue  of  the  provisions  of  the  26th  section  of  the  Adultera- 
tion Act,  the  following  standards  of  quality  have  been  estab- 
lished for  milk  and  its  products: — 

MILK  AND  ITS  PRODUCTS 

1.  MILK,  unless  otherwise  specified,  is  the  fresh,  clean  and  un- 
altered product,  obtained  by  the  complete,  uninterrupted  milking, 
under  proper   sanitary   conditions,   of   one  or  more   healthy  cows, 
properly  fed  and  kept,  excluding  that  obtained  within  two  weeks 
before  and  one  week  after  calving,  and  contains  not  less  than  three 
and  one  quarter   (3.25)   per  cent,  of  milk  fat,  and  not  less  than 
eight  and  one  half  (8.50)  per  cent  of  milk  solids,  other  than  fat. 

2.  SKIM  MILK  is  milk  from  which  a  part  or  all  of  the  cream  has 
been  removed,  and  contains  not  less  than  eight  and  one  half  (8.50) 
per  cent  of  non-fat  milk  solids. 


192      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

3.  PASTEURIZED  MILK  is  milk  that  has  been  heated  below  boil- 
ing, but  sufficiently  to  kill  most  of  the  active  organisms  present; 
and  immediately  cooled  to  45°  F.,  or  lower,  and  kept  at  a  tempera- 
ture not  higher  than  45°   F.,  until  delivered  to  the  consumer,  at 
which  time  it  shall  not  contain  more  than  10,000  bacteria  per  cubic 
centimetre. 

4.  STERILIZED  MILK  is  milk  that  has  been  heated  at  the  temper- 
ature of  boiling  water,  or  higher,  for  a  length  of  time  sufficient  to 
kill  all  organisms  present;  and  must  be  delivered  to  the  consumer 
in  a  sterile  condition.     Sterilized  milk  shall  not  be  sold  or  offered 
for  sale,  except  in  hermetically  closed  containers  bearing  the  words 
"This  milk  should  be  used  within  twelve  (12)  hours  after  opening 
the  container." 

5.  CERTIFIED   MILK.     Milk  sold   as   certified   milk   shall   comply 
with  the  following  requirements: — 

(a)  It  shall  be  taken  from  cows  semi-annually  subjected  to 
the  tuberculin  test,  and  found  without  reaction. 

(fe)  It  shall  contain  not  more  than  10,000  bacteria  per  cubic 
centimetre  from  June  to  September;  and  not  more  than  5,000  bac- 
teria per  cubic  centimetre  from  October  to  May,  inclusive. 

(c)  It  shall  be  free  from  blood,  pus,  or  disease  producing  or- 
ganisms. 

(d)  It  shall  be  free  from  disagreeable  odor  or  taste. 

(e)  It  shall  have  undergone   no  pasteurization  or  sterilization, 
and  be  free  from  chemical  preservatives. 

(/)  It  shall  have  been  cooled  to  45°  F.,  within  half  an  hour  after 
milking,  and  kept  at  that  temperature  until  delivered  to  the  con- 
sumer. 

(g)  It  shall  contain  12  to  13  per  cent  of  milk  solids,  of  which 
at  least  3.5  per  cent  is  fat. 

(h)  It  shall  be  from  a  farm  whose  herd  is  inspected  monthly  by 
the  veterinarian,  and  whose  employees  are  examined  monthly  by  a 
physician. 

6.  EVAPORATED  MILK  is  milk  from  which  a  considerable  portion 
of  water  has  been  evaporated,     and  contains  not  less  than  26  per 
cent  of  milk  solids,  and  not  less  than  7.20  per  cent  of  milk  fat. 

7.  CONDENSED  MILK  is  milk  from  which  a  considerable  portion 
of  water  has  been  evaporated,  and  to  which  sugar  has  been  added. 
It  contains  not  less  than  28  per  cent  of  milk  solids,  and  not  less 
than  7-7  per  cent  of  milk  fat. 

8.  CONDENSED  SKIM  MILK  is  skim  milk  from  which  a  consider- 
able  portion   of  water  has  been  evaporated,  with  or  without  the 
addition  of  sugar. 

Q.  BUTTERMILK  is  the  product  that  remains  when  butter  is  sep- 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  193 

arated  from  ripened  cream,  by  the  usual  churning  processes;  or  a 
similar  product,  made  by  the  appropriate  treatment  of  skimmed 
milk. 

10.  GOAT'S  MILK,  EWE'S  MILK,  &e.,  are  the  fresh,  clean,  lacteal 
secretions,  free  from  colostrum,  obtained  by  the  complete  milking 
of  healthy  animals  other  than  cows,  properly  fed  and  kept,  and 
conform  in  name  to  the  species  of  animals  from  which  they  are 
obtained. 

CREAM 

1.  CREAM  is  that  portion  of  milk,  rich  in  milk  fat,  which  rises 
to  the  surface  of  milk  on  standing,  or  is  separated  from  it  by  cen- 
trifugal force,  is  fresh  and  clean,  and  contains    (unless  otherwise 
specified)  not  less  than  eighteen  (18)  per  cent  of  milk  fat. 

2.  WHEN  GUARANTEED  TO   CONTAIN   another  percentage  of  milk 
fat  than  eighteen  (18)  per  cent,  it  must  conform  to  such  guarantee. 

3.  CREAM  must  be  entirely  free  from  gelatine,  sucrate  of  lime, 
gums  or  other  substances  added  with  a  view  to  give  density,  con- 
sistency or  apparent  thickness  to  the  article. 

4.  CREAM  must  contain  no  preservatives  of  any  kind,  nor  any 
coloring  matter,  other  than  is  natural  to  milk. 

5.  EVAPORATED  CREAM,  CLOTTED  CREAM,  CONDENSED  CREAM  or 
any  other  preparation  purporting  to  be  a  special  cream,  except  ice- 
cream, must  conform  to  the  definition  of  cream,  and  must  contain 
at  least  twenty-five  (25)  per  cent  of  milk  fat. 

MILK  FAT  OR  BUTTER  FAT 

1.  MILK  FAT,  BUTTER  FAT,  is  the  fat  of  milk  and  has  a  Reich- 
ert-Meissl  number  not  less  than  twenty- four  (24)  and  a  specific 

(A(\°(~*  \ 
I 
40  C' 

BUTTER 

1.  BUTTER  is  the  clean  non-rancid  product  made  by  gathering 
in  any  manner  the  fat  of  fresh  or  ripened  milk  or  cream  into  a 
mass,  which  also  contains  a  small  portion  of  the  other  milk  con- 
stituents, with  or  without  salt,  and  contains  not  less  than  eighty- 
two  and  five-tenths  (82.5)  per  cent  milk  fat,  and  not  more  than 
sixteen  (16)  per  cent  of  water.  Butter  may  also  contain  added 
coloring  matter  of  harmless  character. 

CHEESE 

1.  CHEESE  is  the  sound,  solid,  and  ripened  product  made  from 
milk  or  cream  by  coagulating  the  casein  thereof  with  rennet  or 
lactic  acid,  with  or  without  the  addition  of  ripening  ferments  and 
seasoning,  and  contains,  in  the  water-free  substance,  not  less  than 


194.      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

forty-five  per  cent  of  milk  fat.     Cheese  may  also  contain  added 
coloring  matter  of  harmless  character. 

2.  SKIM  MILK  CHEESE  is  the  sound,  solid  and  ripened  product 
made  from  skim  milk  by  coagulating  the  caseine  thereof  with  ren- 
net or  lactic  acid,  with  or  without  the  addition  of  ripening  fer- 
ments and  seasoning. 

S.  GOAT'S  MILK  CHEESE,  EWE'S  MILK  CHEESE,  &c.,  are  the 
sound,  ripened  products  made  from  the  milks  of  the  animals  speci- 
fied, by  coagulating  the  caseine  thereof  with  rennet  or  lactic  acid 
with  or  without  the  addition  of  ripening  ferments  and  seasoning. 

ICE  CREAMS 

1.  ICE-CREAM  is  a  frozen  product,  made  from  cream  and  sugar 
with    or    without    harmless    flavoring    and   coloring   materials    and 
with  or  without  gelatine  gum  tragacanth,  or  other  harmless  stiffen- 
ing materials,  in  amount  less  than  two  (2)  per  cent;  and  contains 
not  less  than  fourteen  (14)  per  cent  of  milk  fat. 

2.  FRUIT  ICE-CREAM  is  a  frozen  product,  made  as  described  un- 
der ice-cream,  but  containing  sound,  clean  and  mature   fruit.     It 
must  contain  not  less  than  twelve  (12)  per  cent  of  milk  fat. 

3.  NUT  ICE-CREAM  is  a  frozen  product,  made  as  described  under 
ice-cream,   but   containing   sound,   non-rancid   nuts.     It  must   con- 
tain not  less  than  twelve  (12)  per  cent  of  milk  fat. 

MISCELLANEOUS  MILK  PRODUCTS 

1.  WHEY  is  the  product  remaining  after  the  removal  of  fat  and 
caseine  from  milk  in  the  process  of  cheese-making. 

2.  KUMISS  is  the  product  made  by  the  alcoholic  fermentation  of 
mare's  milk  or  cow's  milk. 

3.  MILK  POWDER  is  the  soluble  powder  product  made  from  milk 
and  contains,  unless  otherwise  specified,  not  less  than  ninety-five 
(95)  per  cent  of  milk  solids,  and  not  less  than  twenty-six  (26)  per 
cent  of  milk  fat. 

4.  SKIM  MILK  POWDER,  SEPARATED  MILK  POWDER  is  the  soluble 
powder  product  made  from  skim  milk,  and  contains  not  less  than 
ninety-five  (95)  per  cent  of  milk  solids. 

The  standards  above  defined  take  effect  on  the  12th  day  of  De- 
cember, 1910. 

I  had  hoped  that  there  might  be  greater  unanimity  in  some 
things,  but,  so  far  as  the  conference  has  gone,  it  has  given  me  a 

NOTE. — The  following  note  is  suggested  as  an  addition  to  definition  3: — 
Pasteurization  should  be  effected  by  heating  in  a  closed  vessel  for  not  less 
than  20  minutes  at  a  temperature  of  140°-145°F;  or  for  not  less  than  15 
minutes  at  a  temperature  of  145°-150°F.  When  milk  is  heated  above 
150° F..  certain  ferments  and  other  constituents  of  the  milk  are  more  or 
less  altered,  and  the  digestibility  of  the  resultant  milk  is  injuriously  af- 
fected." 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  195 

great  insight  into  the  problems  that  you  have  in  this  great  city.  I 
trust  that  Ontario,  with  her  smaller  cities  and  proportionately 
greater  rural  population,  may  soon  get  this  matter  well  in  hand; 
that  in  future  it  may  redound  through  better  milk  and  better  and 
stronger  men  in  Ontario,  to  our  advantage  and  to  your  own  as 
well.  Because  on  this  Continent,  let  us  remember,  are  two  nations 
always  striving,  let  us  hope  harmoniously,  for  their  people's  benefit, 
and  perhaps  unconsciously  for  better  things  for  all. 

Again,  Mr.  Chairman,  I  thank  you  for  this  opportunity  of  plac- 
ing before  this  meeting  in  outline  what  has  been  done  in  Ontario 
and  Canada,  and  to  thank  you  on  behalf  of  my  Government,  for 
the  privilege  you  have  given  me  of  speaking. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  It  gives  me  great  pleasure  to  introduce  to  you 
Dr.  William  H.  Park,  Director  of  the  Research  Laboratories  of 
the  New  York  Board  of  Health. 

DR.  PARK  spoke  as  follows: 

I  asked  the  Chairman,  for  your  sake,  to  let  me  off,  but  he,  not 
yielding  to  my  judgment,  has  asked  me  to  say  a  word.  And  I 
remember  that  I,  as  Chairman  this  afternoon,  announced  that  there 
were  a  number  of  resolutions  to  be  acted  upon  afterwards,  to  the 
end  that  too  much  time  might  not  be  taken  up  by  the  speakers. 
It  is  now  a  quarter  to  eleven,  and  I  shall  endeavor  to  be  very  brief. 

There  are  only  two  points  that  I  want  to  touch  upon,  because  I 
have  had  a  special  interest  and  a  special  connection  with  them. 
The  first  that  I  was  going  to  speak  on,  is  should  medical  milk  com- 
missions or  should  the  city  authorities  control  and  guarantee  the 
certified  milk?  Until  recently,  I  knew  of  no  city  that  had  at- 
tempted to  control  the  very  highest  class  of  milk.  The  Medical 
Milk  Commissions  have  been  recognized  as  looking  after  that.  In 
this  city,  however,  it  is  almost  impossible  to  cover  the  whole  milk 
question,  and  to  devise  classes  of  milk  in  such  a  way  that  there 
shall  be  no  loophole  without  our  knowing  it. 

Why  should  not  the  city  take  the  place  of  the  Medical  Milk 
Commission?  I  saw,  a  year  ago,  one  of  the  largest  and  best  of 
the  certified  milk  farms,  become  a  guaranteed  farm  under  the  city. 
In  the  future  it  will  come  to  be  more  and  more  a  matter  for  de- 
cision as  to  whether  the  city  shall  finally  take  over  control  of  the 
milk  question. 

Now,  I  simply  give  you  here  my  own  opinion  without  its  being 
in  any  way  the  opinion  of  the  Health  Department.  I  happen  to 
be  on  three  Medical  Commissions,  and  in  only  one  Health  Depart- 
ment, so  I  am  three  quarters  a  Medical  Commissioner.  It  seems 
to  me,  from  my  observation  in  the  Department  and  in  the  Com- 
missions, that  at  least  for  the  present,  the  Commissions  can  much 


196  CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

better  handle  this  matter  than  the  Health  Department.  The  Med- 
ical Milk  Commission  of  Manhattan,  outlines  the  inspection  and 
the  work  in  the  laboratory,  and  it  outlines  the  bacteriological  work 
that  is  done.  The  state  aids  in  the  tuberculous  testing  of  the  cer- 
tified herds,  in  that  way  relieving  at  least  the  smaller  producers 
from  the  expense  of  the  bacteriological  and  the  tuberculin  testing. 

I  believe  that  the  Medical  Milk  Commission,  being  made  up  of 
members  who  are  interested  in  milk  only  for  these  special  pur- 
poses, can  give  more  undivided  attention  to  that  matter  than  can 
the  Health  Department.  At  times  the  Health  Department  would 
be  thoroughly  interested,  and  at  times  it  would  not  be  thoroughly 
interested,  and  at  such  a  time.  I  think  the  highest  grade  of  milk 
would  fall,  possibly,  to  the  level  of  the  better  class  of  the  general 
supply.  The  Medical  Milk  Commission  would  be  more  directly 
interested.  They  have  not  any  special  plans  except  in  this  one 
(special  respect,  and  so  I  hope  that  the  certified  milk  question  will 
remain  for  some  years  under  the  Medical  Milk  Commissions. 

On  the  other  hand,  I  rather  doubt  whether  we  should  continue, 
as  in  New  York,  to  have  a  Medical  Milk  Commission  looking  after 
the  inspected  grades  of  milk,  and  there  I  should  say  that  the  city 
should  take  that  up,  and  that  the  Medical  Milk  Commission  should 
not  look  after  the  second  grades. 

In  New  York,  the  Health  Department  is  not  ready  to  take  up 
this  inspected  milk.  Several  years  ago  it  became  absolutely  neces- 
sary that  the  milk  commission  should  do  it  for  the  sake  of  the  hos- 
pitals, but  I  believe  it  is  within  the  province  of  the  Health  Depart- 
ment to  give  good  milk  to  the  city,  although  possibly  not  to  con- 
trol the  very  best  class  of  milk  until,  at  least,  they  have  inspectors 
enough  to  do  the  necessary  work. 

It  means  that  we  must  take  into  the  Health  Department  one  or 
two  men  to  look  after  the  certified  milk,  or  the  guaranteed  milk. 
It  seems  to  me  it  would  be  better  to  make  the  milk  dealers  bear  the 
expense,  and  the  Medical  Milk  Commission  can,  in  a  perfectly 
proper  way,  look  after  the  production  of  the  certified  milk,  and  in 
a  way  that  the  Health  Department  can  hardly  do  at  the  present 
time. 

As  to  what  the  Department  is  trying  to  do  here  in  the  city,  Dr. 
North  very  frankly  and  very  justly  stated,  or  at  least  implied,  that 
the  Department  had  rather  been  holding  back  for  a  few  years ;  that 
New  York  had  started  out  very  bravely  some  years  ago,  but  had 
rather  held  back  in  the  last  few  years.  Now,  those  of  you  who  do 
not  live  in  New  York  hardly  appreciate  the  difficulty  of  moving 
a  great  body.  We  have  all  sorts  of  opinions.  We  have  the  news- 
papers on  one  side  or  the  other;  you  have  the  Board  of  Health 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  197 

with  one  member  feeling  one  way  as  to  its  laboratories,  and  an- 
other another  way. 

Now,  to  get  back  to  the  question  I  started  out  upon,  as  to  the 
official  movement.  We  have  a  Commissioner  who  started  a  great 
deal  of  this  forward  movement  seven  or  eight  years  ago,  and  I 
think  under  Dr.  Lederle,  who  commenced  the  milk  business  both 
as  a  Commissioner  and  as  a  Chemist,  and  also  since  then,  in  charge 
of  a  laboratory  which  looks  after  the  interests  of  the  milk  dealers, 
we  are  in  a  position  to  go  forward  in  a  very  wise  way,  and  ask  the 
different  men  on  the  different  Commissions  to  stand  together,  and 
help,  in  every  way,  to  bring  forward  this  work. 

And  that  should  be,  so  that  if  we  have  another  conference  next 
year,  Dr.  North  may  again  give  some  praise  to  the  official  work 
that  has  been  done  by  the  Health  Department. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  Although  this  meeting  is  largely  in  the  inter- 
ests of  our  younger  citizens,  I  am  very  glad  to  have  the  opportu- 
nity to  recognize  here  to-night  one  of  the  most  venerable  workers 
in  the  pure  milk  movement,  and  one  of  the  oldest  citizens  of  New 
York,  Dr.  Abraham  Jacobi,  who  was  present  but  who  has  gone. 
We  all  delight  to  honor  him!  whenever  we  have  an  opportunity  to, 
but  he  Is  not  here  now. 

I  would  like  to  recognize  a  number  of  people  here, — Dr.  Hamill, 
of  Philadelphia,  Mr.  Francisco,  Mr.  Walker,  from  Boston  and  a 
number  of  other  men,  who  were  to  be  called  upon,  but  the  time  will 
not  permit.  It  seems  to  me,  however,  that  in  view  of  the  refer- 
ence made  by  Dr.  Magruder,  of  Washington,  to  this  (indicating) 
as  the  greatest  book  in  the  world  on  the  subject  of  milk,  we  ought 
to  hear  one  last  word  from  the  Editor  of  that  book. 

I  want  to  introduce  that  distinguished  gentleman,  Prof.  Rosenau, 
Professor  of  Hygiene  in  Harvard  University,  who  edited  this  book. 

PROFESSOR  ROSENAU:  I  thank  you,  Mr.  Chairman,  for  calling 
upon  me,  but  I  think  that  there  are  a  number  of  resolutions  that 
Dr.  Wile  has  to  offer,  and  I  think  it  would  be  more  profitable  to 
start  at  them  now. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  I  want  to  summarize,  in  four  words,  what,  to 
me,  seems  to  be  the  gist  of  what  has  been  said  to-night,  in  the  mat- 
ter of  making  a  success  of  this  pure  milk  crusade.  I  want  to  make 
an  acrostic  in  four  words. 

The  Money  which  is  necessary  to  forward  our  efforts,  whether 
they  be  educational  or  in  the  direction  of  the  production. 

Next  comes  Interest,  to  stimulate  co-operation  and  effort. 

Law  which  must  safeguard  the  effort,  and 

Knowledge,  so  that  the  effort  may  be  directed  properly. 


198  CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

Money,  Interest,  Law  and   Knowledge, — M-I-L-K. 

I  would  like  to  recognize  Dr.  Schroeder,  of  Washington. 

DR.  SCHROEDER:  Mr.  Chairman,  I  have  a  resolution  to  present 
which  is  not  a  very  long  resolution,  and  I  do  not  think  it  will  re- 
quire any  discussion,  and  I  think  it  should  be  unanimous.  It  is  a 
resolution  which  is  not  presented  in  the  ordinary  way,  because  the 
personal  element  could  not  quite  be  eliminated  from  it.  It  reads: 

"WHEREAS,  Dr.  Ira  S.  Wile,  Chairman  of  the  Conference 
Committee,  has  devoted  a  large  amount  of  his  time,  during  the 
past  weeks  in  arranging  the  details  of  this  conference,  and, 

"WHEREAS,  In  a  large  measure,  the  success  of  the  confer- 
ence has  been  due  to  his  efforts,  be  it 

"Resolved,  That  a  Vote  of  Thanks  be  tendered  to  him  for 
his  services." 

(The  resolution  was   seconded  and  carried  unanimously.) 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  Dr.  Wile  has  some  resolutions  to  offer. 

Dr.  Ira  S.  Wile,  Chairman  of  the  Conference  Committee.  (Ap- 
plause.) 

DR.  WILE:  Mr.  Chairman,  as  Chairman  of  the  Committee  on 
Resolutions,  I  can,  of  course,  take  no  cognizance  of  any  resolution 
that  has  not  passed  through  the  Committee.  (Laughter.)  There 
are  but  four  resolutions  to  be  presented  at  this  session.  Two  of 
them  will  probably  create  some  measure  of  enthusiasm. 

The  first  resolution  is  designed  to  crystallize  the  efforts  of  this 
conference,  so  that  there  will  be  something  to  show  for  it,  and  so 
that,  after  we  go  out  from  this  hall,  we  shall  not  simply  leave  the 
words  behind  and  the  acts  undone.  Therefore  the  following  reso- 
lution is  presented,  Mr.  Chairman: 

"Resolved,  That  the  following  committee  be  appointed  to 
arrange  for  a  National  Organization  to  promote  the  Study  for 
the  Improvement  of  the  Public  Milk  Supply,  such  Committee 
to  have  power  to  increase  its  own  membership,  and  such  com- 
mittee to  consist  of: 

Emil  Berliner,  Washington,  D.  C.;  Jesse  Burke,  Philadel- 
phia, Pa. ;  Henry  L.  Coit,  M.D.,  Newark,  N,  J. ;  William  A. 
Evans,  M.D.,  Chicago,  111. ;  George  W.  Goler,  M.D.,  Rochester, 
N.  Y. ;  V.  Everit  Macy,  New  York  City ;  G.  Lloyd  Magruder, 
M.D.,  Washington,  D.  C. ;  Charles  E.  North,  M.D.,  New  York 
City ;  Wilbur  C.  Phillips,  New  York  City ;  Milton  J.  Rosenau, 
M.D.,  Boston;  E.  C.  Schroeder,  M.D.,  Washington,  D.  C. ; 
William  T.  Sedgwick,  M.D.,  Boston ;  Prof.  Henry  C.  Sherman, 


NEW  YORK  MILK  COMMITTEE  199 

New  York  City ;  Ira  S.  Wile,  M.D.,  New  York  City ;  Stephen 
G.  Williams,  New  York  City." 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  You  have  heard  the  reading  of  the  resolu- 
tion, are  there  any  remarks? 

(On  motion,  duly  seconded,  the  resolution  was  adopted.) 
DR.  WILE:     Mr.  Chairman,  the  next  is  as  follows: 

"Resolved,  That  all  resolutions  adopted  at  all  sessions  of  the 
conference  be  referred  to  the  Committee  just  formed,  with 
powers." 

(On  motion,  duly  seconded,  the  resolution  was  adopted.) 
Dte.  WILE:     Mr.  Chairman,  the  next  resolution  is  as  follows: 
"Resolved,  That  all  interstate  commerce  in  milch  cows  be 
prohibited  unless  such  cows  have  successfully  passed  a  tuber- 
culin test." 

This  resolution  differs  from  the  one  that  was  offered  last  night 
in  that  the  wise  suggestion  that  was  made  from  the  floor  has  been 
embodied  in  it,  that  the  words  "interstate  commerce"  should  be  used 
instead  of  "sale." 

The  resolution  which  was  voted  down  last  night  was  so  worded 
as  to  preclude  the  selling  of  the  cow  by  one  farmer  to  another. 
This  deals  merely  with  the  interstate  sale. 

(On  motion,  duly  seconded,  the  resolution  was  adopted.) 

DR.  WILE:     The  last  resolution,  Mr.  Chairman,  is  as  follows: 

"Resolved,  That  we  favor  the  establishment  of  a  State  Com- 
mission which  shall  have  the  right  to  inquire  into  and  fix  the 
maximum  price  that  shall  be  charged  for  milk  by  dealers  to 
consumers,  in  a  given  locality,  and  the  minimum  price  that  shall 
be  paid  by  dealers  to  producers  of  milk,  in  a  given  locality, 
and  no  dealer  should  be  allowed  to  engage  in  the  milk  business 
without  obtaining  a  license  from  the  Commission,  these  licenses 
to  be  revocable  by  the  Commission  for  violation  by  the  dealers, 
of  the  prices  established." 

(The  resolution  was  duly  seconded.) 

MR.  WILLIAMS:  I  would  like  to  say  a  word  on  that.  If  I  un- 
derstand that  resolution  rightly, — and  I  am  not  sure  that  I  do — 
it  would  bind  this  Conference  to  the  aproval  of  a  law  authorizing 
a  State  Commission  to  set  the  minimum  price  at  which  a  man 
might  sell  his  produce,  and  he  could  not  sell  it  for  anything  lower 
than  that  price.  Therefore,  if  no  one  wished  to  purchase  it  at  the 


200      CONFERENCE  ON  MILK  PROBLEMS 

prices  at  which  he  would  be  obliged  to  sell  it,  as  directed  by  the 
Commission,  he  would  be  obliged  to  throw  away  his  stuff,  or  store 
it  indefinitely. 

If  I  correctly  i^derstand  the  meaning  of  that  resolution,  I  can- 
not imagine  that  ^.ch  a  law  would  by  any  means  be  held  constitu- 
tional, and  I  think  it  would  be  an  absurdity.  I  am  not  quite  sure, 
however,  that  I  heard  the  resolution  correctly. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  Will  you  kindly  read  it  again?  (The  resolu- 
tion was  again  read.) 

MR.  WILLIAMS:  That  resolution  does  seem  to  me  to  mean  what 
I  thought  it  did;  namely,  that  a  Commission  should  state  that  in  a 
certain  locality,  the  price  of  milk  should  not  be  over  a  certain  price, 
and  that,  on  the  other  hand,  the  dealer  should  not  be  allowed  to 
buy  milk  in  a  certain  locality  at  less  than  a  certain  price.  There- 
fore, if  anyone  came  along  to  buy  the  poor  farmer's  milk  at  more 
than  two  cents  a  quart  or  three  cents  a  quart,  the  poor  farmer 
would  have  to  throw  it  away  or  store  it  indefinitely,  which  he  is 
not  in  a  position  to  do. 

THE  CHAIRMAN:  I  am  glad  to  recognize  the  Chairman  of  the 
New  York  Milk  Committee  in  this  discussion,  but  I  cannot  recog- 
nize others  for  general  discussion,  because  of  the  lateness  of  the 
hour. 

DR.  PARK:  How  would  that  affect  interstate  commerce?  I  am 
not  a  lawyer.  Mlaybe  Mr.  Coleman  could  answer  that. 

MR.  COLEMAN:  In  my  opinion,  a  law  of  that  kind  would  not 
be  unconstitutional.  On  the  other  hand,  a  gentleman  who  spoke 
this  evening  on  the  subject,  believes  that  it  would  be.  It  is  like 
many  legal  questions;  there  are  two  sides. 

(The  motion  was  lost  and  the  resolution  was  not  adopted.) 
THE   CONFERENCE  THEN  ADJOURNED. 


THIS  BOOK  IS  DUE  ON  THE  LAST  DATE 
STAMPED  BELOW 

AN  INITIAL  FINE  OF  25  CENTS 

WILL  BE  ASSESSED  FOR  FAILURE  TO  RETURN 
THIS  BOOK  ON  THE  DATE  DUE.  THE  PENALTY 
WILL  INCREASE  TO  SO  CENTS  ON  THE  FOURTH 
DAY  AND  TO  $I.OO  ON  THE  SEVENTH  DAY 
OVERDUE. 


FEB   161 


REC'D  LD 


JAN 


JUL  1  5  1998 


LD  21-100m-8,'34 


UNIVERSITY  OF  CALIFORNIA  LIBRARY 


